Answered By: Paul Lai
Last Updated: Jun 29, 2023     Views: 473

 

Transcript

 

Visual: The webinar begins with a PowerPoint title slide in the large central panel. The room also includes a captioning pod, Q&A pod, chat pod, and files pod. 

Audio [Anne]: Hello, everyone! Thank you so much for joining us today. Our webinar, Writing a Doctoral Capstone as a Multilingual Writer, part 1. I am Anne Shiell from the Writing Center, and I'm excited to be here with Dayna and Sam also from the Writing Center. This is part 1, and we will talk about part 2 later on in the presentation. 

Thanks for being here. I know time is very precious these days. Whether you are here live or watching the recording, we are glad to be learning together today. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Housekeeping

The slide says “Housekeeping” and the following: 

  • Recording will be available in our webinar archive
  • Download files from “Files” pod
  • Polls, files, and links are interactive
  • Use Q&A box now or email us later
  • Ask in the Q&A box, or select “Help” in upper right corner of the webinar room

Audio [Anne]: Before we jump into the presentation, a few housekeeping items. We are recording the webinar, and it will be available later this week online in our archive. You can download the slides and a certificate of attendance in the files pod in the bottom right corner. The polls, files, and links are active whether you are here live or watching the recording. 

We have a Q&A for help box that we will monitor throughout the presentation for any questions you have. If you have technical questions, that is a great place to ask them. I will also draw your attention to the help button in the top right-hand corner, and that is a great place for further technical help if you have any issues. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Presenters and Facilitators

Slide shows images of:

Presenter: Dayna Herrington, Form and Style Editor and Coordinator, Capstone Multilingual Student Writing Support, Walden University Writing Center, Office of Academic Editing
Pronouns: She, her, hers

Facilitator: Sam Herrington, Form and Style Editor, Walden University Writing Center, Office of Academic Editing

Facilitator: Anne Shiell, Resource Manager of Student and Faculty Webinars, Walden University Writing Center, Pronouns: She, her, hers

Audio [Anne]: Our presenter today is Dayna Herrington from the Writing Center. Sam Herrington is facilitating. He will answer your content questions, and I will help with anything technical. A quick thanks to Kate from our captioning service today. I will turn it over to you, Dayna. 

[Dayna]: Thank you, Anne! Again, this is part 1 of Writing a Doctoral Capstone as a Multilingual Writer: Practical Tips and Resources.

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: General overview

  1. Follow faculty and document expectations (Part 1)
  2. Follow expected rhetorical structure (Part 1)
      • Linear; writer-responsible
      • Develop arguments with evidence and analysis
      • Cite all ideas that come from other sources
  3. Use Form and Style website resources (Part 1 and 2)
  4. Develop scholarly voice (Part 2)
  5. Spend time on revision and proofreading (Part 2)
      • Revise for sentence-level grammar

Audio [Dayna]: Before we take a deeper dive, I want to acknowledge that I understand aspects of writing the dissertation and capstone writing are not necessarily unique to multilingual or international writers. But if you add a different language or culture to the mix, those things can amplify those challenges of writing such a large writing project. 

I hope you are able to leave today's webinar with strategies and resources that will alleviate some of these extra challenges. I also hope you come back for Part 2 which we will talk more about in a bit. 

I have five main tips here that you can use to successfully write a dissertation, a doctoral study, or a project study. The first three tips, the ones in bold or darker blue, is where we will focus today. 

Number 1 is to follow faculty and document expectations. Number 2 is to follow the expected rhetorical structure of United States academic English. We will look at how US academic writing follows a linear structure. It and writer-responsible writing. 

We will look at developing arguments with evidence and analysis and citing ideas that come from other sources. We will end with form and style websites that you can use to successfully write your capstone. 

Numbers 4 and 5 on the slide -- those are really the focus of part 2 of this webinar series that will come up in December. I hope you will join us for that one too. 

Tip 1 is to follow faculty and document expectations. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Follow Faculty and Document Expectations

  • Expectations may differ because of varying educational backgrounds
    • Approach committee with questions
    • Examine published models and samples 
    • Follow the appropriate checklist for your program
  • The writer must self-manage their own writing 
  • Amount or type of feedback received may differ

Audio [Dayna]: Let's dive into the first three tips -- following faculty and document expectations, following the expected rhetorical structure, and using form and style websites. 

Expectations might differ from what you are used to because of varying educational backgrounds. In some cultures, the power distance between teacher and student is high. In these cultures, students might not be allowed to ask a question or interact much with the teacher. 

In the United States, this power distance is typically lower, and in fact, in the United States, students are expected to ask questions for clarifications and be an active participant in the class. 

I suggest your approach your committee with questions you have. Ask specifically about responsibilities if you are not sure. You can ask, "What is my responsibility? What is your responsibility? What is our timeline? What means of contact should I use? Email, phone, Skype? What feedback will I get? Oral or written feedback? A mixture?" 

If you get feedback you don't understand, it's important to ask about it. Your committee expects you to do so. 

I strongly suggest examining models and samples of published dissertations and doctoral studies, project studies, what you’ve you’re writing, those capstone documents. These can be a guide in terms of scholarly language and organization. 

My next tip is to follow the appropriate checklist for your program. These checklists show exactly what information needs to be included in order to meet those Walden requirements. Also keep in mind that at the doctoral study or project study or dissertation stage, the writer has to self-manage their own writing. This can be a change for your personally, academically, or based on cultural differences. 

Finally, remember that all writers need feedback to improve. The amount or type of feedback you receive could be different from your previous education or in a different culture. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Resources for Following Faculty and Document Expectations

Audio [Dayna]: This slide shows links to resources to help you follow those faculty and document expectations. Be sure to keep in close contact with your academic advisor for your program and degree requirements. That is essential. 

I also suggest bookmarking the doctoral capstone resources website. This contains curated resources from across the university that are available for doctoral students at Walden. 

Another site to bookmark is the Office of Research and Doctoral Services website. At Walden, this center hosts program rubrics, checklists, and guidebooks for doctoral and capstone projects. 

I have added a link with a short video on following faculty expectations which you might find helpful. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Follow Expected Rhetorical Structure

Audio [Dayna]: That brings us to the second practical tip to successfully writing a capstone document is to follow the expected rhetorical structure. 

I touched on this before, but one of the most helpful strategies to follow the structure is to actively read and analyze recently published Walden capstone documents in your field of study. I have linked to three places to find these samples. There is a link to dissertations and doctoral studies, a link to the Hodgkinson Award Winning Dissertations, and a link to the Dilley Award Winning Dissertations. 

You will see how the ideas and individual paragraphs are developed and organized. You could also break this down and analyze linguistic features in the published documents. 

Transition words or phrases that the author uses, verb tenses that the author chooses, specific field expressions and vocabulary emulating what you read when you write in your own capstone documents can follow this rhetorical structures. 

In this case, dissertations and doctoral studies, the more you can read them, the better you can write in the genre. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Follow Expected Rhetorical Structure, Continued

Audio [Dayna]: A little bit more about organization. When focusing on organizing the document as a whole, you want to be sure you are following the appropriate guide and checklist for your program. I have hyperlinked to that here. You want to make sure you are using the program-specific study or dissertation templates. I have hyperlinked out to where you can find these guides on the slide. 

In terms of organizing this document into sections and paragraphs, you want to think about your audience. I have included three specific subpoints. Your readers expect that your writing will be linear in structure. In US academic writing, we tend to use more of a linear pattern. 

For example, we tend to state the themes at the beginning of paragraphs and summarize the ideas in the conclusion. 

But this is not the only way to organize writing. So if you’ve come from a culture that uses a different organization patter, this shift in organization can really be a challenge. I'll show you an example of what I mean by this on the next slide. Some cultures are more "reader responsible" than "writer responsible." To explain this a little bit more, in a reader responsible culture, the writer assumes some of the responsibility to understanding the text lies with the reader. They might assume the reader has read the same texts, and that relationships don't need to be explicitly stated. 

In contrast, in a writer responsible culture, the writer is responsible for explicitly explaining the meaning of the text. In other words, a reader shouldn't have to work that hard to understand what the writer means. The United States is an example of this type of culture. 

So the writing should be clear and straightforward. This combines the two ideas I just talked about readers should not have to work hard to follow the ideas in the writing. One idea should flow to the next, and the relationships between ideas should be explicitly stated for the readers. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Linear structure example

The introduction gives the reader background about the topic. The introduction is often organized from more general to more specific, leading to a clear thesis statement or controlling idea. 

Paragraph 1 begins with a topic sentence, written in your own words, clarifying the main point of the paragraph and relating back to the thesis statement. Each sentence in this paragraph relates back to the main point of Paragraph 1.

Paragraph 2 begins with a topic sentence, written in your own words, clarifying the main point of the paragraph and relating back to the thesis statement. Each sentence in this paragraph relates back to the main point of Paragraph 2.

Paragraph 3 begins with a topic sentence, written in your own words, clarifying the main point of the paragraph and relating back to the thesis statement. Each sentence in this paragraph relates back to the main point of Paragraph 3.

The conclusion summarizes the main points of the text, in this case, the main points of Paragraphs 1, 2, and 3. No new information is introduced in the conclusion. 

Audio [Dayna]: This slide shows a simplified example of what I mean by writing in a linear structure. I'll go ahead and read through this with you. The introduction gives the reader the background about the topic. It's often organized from general to specific which leads to a clear thesis statement or controlling idea. 

Then we have paragraph 1 which begins with a topic sentence written in your own words clarifying the main points of the paragraph and relating back to the thesis statement. 

Paragraph 2 then begins with the topic sentence written in your own words, clarifying the main point of the paragraph, and relating back to the thesis statement. Each sentence in this paragraph relates back to the main point of paragraph 2 

Then paragraph 3, starts with a topic sentence in your own words [Reading from slide.] 

At the bottom of the slide, we have the conclusion that summarizes the main points of the text. In this case, the main points of paragraphs 1, 2, and 3. No new information is introduced in the conclusion. 

Sometimes when I think about US academic writing, I think about the analogy of a sandwich. There are two pieces of bread, and they are the introduction and conclusion. Then these are the parts that hold the sandwich together into a cohesive unit. 

In the middle is what kind of sandwich you might have. You might add some meat which is an argument or paragraph 1, then you add cheese which is another argument or paragraph 2, and then some veggies which is another argument or paragraph 3. 

You might also add a sauce, like mayonnaise or mustard. This helps to keep the sandwich together and combine the flavors. The sauce is the transitions and cohesive devices that show how one idea relates to the next. 

If you like analogies and like to think about food and sandwiches, that might help thinking about American or US academic writing.

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Other Resources to Follow the Expected Rhetorical Structure

Audio [Dayna]: On this next slide, I have linked out to some resources that you can use to follow the expected rhetorical structure. I have linked to a video on writing in a linear structure. There is also a link to a blog post on rhetorical structure in the capstone documents. And there is a link to a blog post on cohesion in the capstone documents. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Follow Expected Rhetorical Structure, Continued

Develop arguments with evidence and analysis

Audio [Dayna]: Another part of following the expected rhetorical structure is to develop arguments with evidence and analysis. Again, the expectations for how to develop written arguments might differ based on various educational backgrounds. In some educational systems, it's important to summarize previous work to demonstrate understanding. In US academic writing, summary is a part of it, but it's not always the end point. Writers are expected to evaluate what they have read and then bring in their own interpretation. 

They are expected to synthesize material. This is to show how sources relate to one another. Do they agree with one another? Do they disagree? Does one idea further another idea? In the doctoral capstone, so the dissertation, doctoral study, or project study, the writer's use of evidence and analysis is very important, especially in the literature review. 

The lit review in a capstone document is not just a summary of different sources like you might find in an annotated bibliography. It is instead a new conversation that shows how the sources relate to one another, and what new interpretation you as a writer bring to the document. 

The last bullet point leads to a video about evidence and analysis. You can bookmark that if you are interested. 

 

Visual: One strategy: Follow the MEAL plan to write in a linear structure supported with evidence and analysis

Paragraphs can be organized like this:

M = Main idea/topic sentence. Written in your own words.

E= Evidence. The evidence is supported with outside sources.

A = Analysis. Explanation, commentary, or informed opinion about the evidence.

L = Lead out or conclusion. 

Audio [Dayna]: One way to write in a linear structure, like what we talked about on the previous slides, that is supported with evidence and analysis is to organize your paragraphs following the MEAL plan. 

The paragraph begins with M, the Main Idea or topic sentence. This is written in your own words. 

It is followed by E, Evidence. This is supported by outside sources. 

Next and A, Analysis. This is the explanation or commentary or informed opinion about the evidence provided. 

Finally, it ends with L, or Lead-out or conclusion.

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Example Paragraph in the MEAL PLAN

Another component of doctoral writing evidenced in this dissertation was the author’s use of summary or paraphrase, demonstrating her ability to critically assess the material from several sources and make a unique contribution by synthesizing the material in her own voice. Instead of directly quoting sources, Hackshaw (2012) summarized the literature, citing only one page number, indicating a paraphrased passage. The absence of direct quotes contributes to the paper’s flow and readability because there is consistency in the author’s voice opposed to multiple voices from direct quotes. Specifically, Hackshaw used paraphrase and summary to directly relate relevant aspects of other works to her own study, rather than using direct quotes followed by explanations or analyses. In this way, the author explained and contextualized her research using her own voice.

Audio [Dayna]: Let's look at an example of a paragraph written in a linear structure that is also supported by evidence and analysis. 

This follows the MEAL plan where the M is in red, the main point. The E is in italics, the evidence. The A is the analysis, the underlined part. Then the bold L is the lead-out or conclusion. 

Let me go ahead and read this aloud so you can focus on the organization. 

Another component of doctoral writing is the author's use of summary or paraphrase, demonstrating her ability to demonstrate . . . [Reading from slide.] 

After taking a look at the example on the previous slide, here is your first chance to participate in today's webinar. I'd like to give you a chance to rearrange the paragraph on this slide to follow the MEAL plan. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Practice #1 

Reorder the paragraph to follow the MEAL Plan

(1) Badley et al. (2015) described how the mix of generations in the workforce presents challenges for managers. (2) Thus, it is imperative for leaders to understand each of these groups. (3) Generational workplace diversity changes may pose challenges for employers. (4) For example, employees create psychological contracts with their employers that reflect their values and attitudes toward work (Vasantha, 2016). (5) Each generation has different values, different ideas, and different ways of communicating. However, these challenges also create opportunities. 

Paragraph adapted from 

Cornelius, A. D. (2018). Strategies for motivating a multigenerational workforce [Doctoral dissertation. Walden University]. ScholarWorks. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6593&context=dissertations

Audio [Dayna]: Let's take a look at this paragraph, and I will read it aloud. Then there will be a poll that you will see here to give you some ideas of how you could reorganize this. 

The original paragraph looks like this: 

1) Badley et al (2015) described how the mix of generations in the workforce presents challenges for managers . . . [Reading from slide.] 

Quickly here, you can see there are five different sentences. Actually, six sentences, but five that are numbered. I will go on mute for a moment, so take a minute to follow that MEAL plan. You can choose answers from the poll so you are not just starting from scratch. 

[Student taking the poll] 

I will go ahead and unmute myself. Wow! Nice job, everybody. It looks like the majority of people commenting selected B as the correct answer. Some people selected D as the correct answer. 

So between B and D, nobody is choosing A or C though. I'm going to go ahead and show you the answer! 

The answer should be B. So 3, 1, 5, 4, 2. If that is what you chose, nice job! Let's take a look more at how this would follow that MEAL plan. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Answer

(3) Generational workplace diversity changes may pose challenges for employers. (1) Badley et al. (2015) described how the mix of generations in the workforce presents challenges for managers. (5) Each generation has different values, different ideas, and different ways of communicating. However, these challenges also create opportunities. (4) For example, employees create psychological contracts with their employers that reflect their values and attitudes toward work (Vasantha, 2016). (2) Thus, it is imperative for leaders to understand each of these groups. 

Audio [Dayna]: So, if I were to rearrange this into this order, it would be: Generational workplace diversity changes may pose challenges for employers. That sounds like the main idea, that main topic sentence which again is written in your own words.

And then that is supported by some E, some Evidence. So we have “Badley et al. describes how the mix of generations in the workforce presents challenges for managers.” So there is some evidence.

Then we have some analysis: “Each generation has different values, different ideas, and different ways of communicating. However, these challenges also create opportunities.” 

And then, just to kind of throw you off a little bit, you can see that we have some more evidence again. So this one follows the MEAL plan we can seen that we have evidence in two different places. So now we have, “For example, employees create psychological contracts with their employers that reflect their values and attitudes toward work (Vasantha, 2016).”

And then we finally have that last sentence, sentence (2), Thus, it is imperative for leaders to understand each of these groups. 

So a couple things to note here are that we actually have evidence in two different places in this example, but it’s still follows the general MEAL plan where we have the M, the main idea to the beginning. So we have, for example,

You have the L or lead-out at the end written in your own words. Then in the middle is that evidence and analysis portion where you are giving outside sources, but you are explaining what they mean. 

Nice job everybody. So in your own writing, if you find you have some trouble writing in a linear structure or you are missing a piece of this in your writing -- say missing evidence or analysis -- following this general outlining strategy can help ensure you include any of the missing pieces. 

You can also use color coding like I did here to make sure you have all the pieces of an organized or developed paragraph that follows that linear structure that US academic writing tends to follow. 

You can also take a few paragraphs of your own writing, and if you assign color coding or font changes, if there is a piece that is missing, you can go back and add it. Or if something is out of order, you can move it. Or if you need to add more analysis, you can see it more clearly if you are using color coding or font changes. It helps highlight where more development is needed or where organization can change. 

Nice job on this activity. Let's move on to another subpoint of following the expected rhetorical structure is the idea that US academic writers must cite all ideas that come from other sources. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Follow Expected Rhetorical Structure, Continued

Cite all ideas that come from other sources                 

Audio [Dayna]: The first point in this slide is about a collective versus an individual approach to writing. Let me explain what I mean by this here. Some cultures have more of a collectivist approach to writing. In these cultures, the writer might use ideas or quotations from other sources without citation. This assumes the writer is well read and that the reader has read the same sources. 

If the sources are cited, it might be considered an insult to the intelligence of the reader. In other words, the ways the writer is able to take and combine these previous sources into their own writing demonstrates sophistication. 

Other cultures like the United States have a more individual approach to writing. In this case, the ideas of other authors are intellectual property that must be cited in the text. In the United States, citations show respects to the original author, and they also show the reader that the writer is well researched and credible. 

If the sources are not cited properly, we refer to this as plagiarism. In the United States when there is so much emphasis on the individual, plagiarism can be a serious offense, in and some educational contexts, there are serious consequences. 

There are two ways to cite material. We can use a direct quotation or a paraphrase. In a direct quotation, the original words of the author are used and then copied and pasted into the new document. 

In a paraphrase, the words are changed from the original source, but the ideas are still from that source. 

At Walden, you will use APA documentation style. This prefers the use of paraphrases over direct quotations. So use paraphrasing instead of direct quotations whenever possible. Both direct quotations and paraphrases have to be cited with an in-text citation. 

I just covered a lot of ideas on this slide, so I encourage you to bookmark and watch the linked video here after today's webinar to learn more if needed and to review it on your own, listen to it again or whatever would be helpful. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Practice #2: Is This Correctly Cited? 

Original: “Participants expected the school district to provide a quality education to their children, while reinforcing the conservative beliefs and values of their parents and grandparents; they also expected small class size, close student-teacher relationships, and strong sports programs” (Baade, 2016, p. 99).

Audio [Dayna]: This brings us to another chance for you to participate in today's webinar. There we go, sorry! My clicks weren't clicking. 

I want to show you an original source on the left side of the screen: 

Participants expected the school district to provide a quality education to their children, while reinforcing the conservative beliefs and values of their parents . . . [Reading from slide.] 

Notice that I have placed quotation marks around this direct quote, and I have included a parenthetical in-text citation with the author, year, and page number. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to include the following:

Revision: Participants expected the school district to provide a quality education to their children, while reinforcing the conservative beliefs and values of their parents and grandparents; they also expected small class size, close student-teacher relationships, and strong sports programs (Baade, 2016).

Audio [Dayna]: I'd like you to take a look at the sentence on the right. This is a revision of that sentence: 

Participants expected the school district to provide a quality education to their children while reinforcing the conservative beliefs and values of their parents and grandparents . . . [Reading from slide.] 

My question for you right now, and I see some have already started which is totally fine -- is this revision correctly cited? There is the poll here, and I will go on mute so you can think about it for a second. Click Yes or No in the poll. Is this revision correctly cited? 

[Students take the poll] 

I'm going to come off of mute, and it looks like 75% of you said no, this is not correctly cited. 25% of you said yes, it is correctly cited. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to include the following:

No. Language is the same as the original. There are no quotation marks or page number.

Audio [Dayna]: Here is my answer: I would say no, this revision is not correctly cited. Here's why. In this revision, even though there is a parenthetical in-text citation at the end, this revision is still what we would consider plagiarism because the language in the revision matches the language of the original. There are no quotation marks or page number around this revision. 

If you read the original, and if you wrote this revision, this revision would be considered plagiarism. It is not correctly cited. The language in the revision matches the language in the original. 

75% of you had that one. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Practice #3: Is This Correctly Cited?

Original: “Participants expected the school district to provide a quality education to their children, while reinforcing the conservative beliefs and values of their parents and grandparents; they also expected small class size, close student-teacher relationships, and strong sports programs” (Baade, 2016, p. 99).

 

Audio [Dayna]: Let's go ahead and try another one. Again, here is the original on the left of the screen. Note that the original is the same as on the previous slide: 

Participants expected the school district to provide a quality education to their children . . . [Reading from slide.] 

 

Visual: Slide changes to include the following:

Revision: Participants wanted the school district to provide their children education, while reinforcing conservative beliefs. They also expected small classes, close student-teacher relationships, and good sports programs.

 

Audio [Dayna]: Here is the revision on the right: 

Participants wanted the school district to provide their children education while reinforcing conservative beliefs . . . [Reading from slide.] 

Is this correctly cited? Click Yes or No in the poll. I will go on mute to give you a chance to think. 

[Students take the poll]

Coming off mute here. I see 100% of people who responded to the poll, the majority clicked no, this revision is not correctly cited. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to include the following:

No. The language is too close to the original and follows the same general structure. No citation is included.

Audio [Dayna]: Here is what I would say. First of all, no to the new underlined words here. We will talk about this in just a second. I would say this revision is also not correctly cited. In the revision here, the language is too close to the original, and it follows the same general structure. You can see these similarities in the underlined words on the revision here. Those underlined words match exactly those words from the original. 

There were a few things that changed. The word "expected" was changed to "wanted" in the revision. "Strong" was changed to "good" in the revision. But mostly the overall vocabulary use is too similar to the original. Additionally, there is no citation included. No author, year, or any of that. Again, this is not correctly cited. So if you answered no here, you are correct. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Practice #4: Is This Correctly Cited?

Original: “Participants expected the school district to provide a quality education to their children, while reinforcing the conservative beliefs and values of their parents and grandparents; they also expected small class size, close student-teacher relationships, and strong sports programs” (Baade, 2016, p. 99).

Audio [Dayna]: Let's try one last one. Here again is the original on the left side of the screen. This is the same original as we've seen in the last two examples: 

Participants expected the school district to provide a quality education to their children, while reinforcing . . . [Reading from slide.] 

 

Visual: Slide changes to include the following:

Revision: Participants expected their schools to keep small class sizes, provide sports, and maintain good student-teacher relationships, while also supporting their conservative values (Baade, 2016).

Audio [Dayna:] Here is the revision to the right: 

Participants expected their schools to keep small class sizes, provide sports⋯ [Reading from slide.] 

Here is another poll. Take a minute again to state whether this revision is correctly cited. I will go on mute and give you a moment. 

[Students take poll] 

Okay, it looks like 100% of people who answered this question said yes, this revision is correctly cited. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to include the following:

Yes. Language and sentence structure vary from the original and the ideas are cited in APA.

Audio [Dayna]: I agree. Yes, this revision is correctly cited. The language and sentence structure vary from the original, and the ideas are cited in APA because they are coming from another source. Note that there is a parenthetical citation that includes the author's last name and year of publication, just as APA dictates. 

Again, this is what is expected in US academic writing where you are using evidence and analysis to support your own ideas. 

Alright, awesome! Thanks for trying these activities today. Let us go ahead and move on. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Use Form and Style Website Resources

Email [email protected]

Form and Style webpage: Use Quick Answers and the search tool

SMRTguides (quick, visual how-to)

Program specific templates

Form and Style Kits

 

Audio [Dayna]: This brings us to the third and the last practical tip in part 1 for today. Which is to use the form and style website resources. I know there have been other resources hyperlinked throughout the webinar today, and the number can get somewhat overwhelming. If you haven't already, I do suggest downloading and saving today's webinar slides so you have access to everything that is presented today. 

You can email us at [email protected], and an editor will respond within 24 hours. 

I have also provided a link for the Form and Style webpage itself. You should bookmark this. You can use the quick answers and search tool to type in what you are looking for. An easier way to navigate the sites. 

Another resource are the SMRTguides, quick visual PDF documents we have on different topics. We have SMRTguides on writing different sections of the capstone, on document formatting, presenting data, paragraph-level writing like the MEAL plan. On post-capstone writing, and on grammar checks and strategies. 

I have also linked out to some program-specific templates. These are templates you will use to write your study.  

The last link is for the Form and Style Kits. Specifically thinking about that first poll at the beginning, asking what stage of the capstone process you are at, it looked like a lot of you are at the proposal stage. There is a proposal kit for help with writing that. There is also a final study kit for completing the results and final conclusions. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Use Form and Style Website Resources

Webinars for Capstone Students

Form and Style Review Checklist

Communication and Responsibility

Evidence-Based Arguments

Reading to Write

APA

Audio [Dayna]: A few more links on this slide for Form and Style resources. One is the hyperlink to webinars for capstone students. You are attending this webinar today, so obviously you found some of these! But we have other live webinars on many aspects of capstone writing, and on each section of the capstone -- lit review, method, results -- this link brings you to what we have available. 

I have also linked to the Form and Style Review Checklist. This is what we editors use as we edit your manuscript. I suggest using this on your own for revision and proofreading so you know what we are looking for and so you can make these revisions.  

We also talked about following faculty and document expectations, as well as following that rhetorical structure. I have linked to a blog post about the importance of communication with your committee and personal responsibility. We also have resources on how you actively read and write a document. We also have sources on APA as well. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Use Form and Style Website Resources

For Capstone Multilingual Writers

Capstone Multilingual Writing Tip of the Month

Doctoral Multilingual Writers Kit

Grammar and Mechanics pages

Grammar Checks and Strategies SMRT Guides

Grammarly (on the Writing Center website)

Audio [Dayna]: This next slide shows some more specific resources for capstone multilingual writers, which I assume is why you are here. You can bookmark the for capstone multilingual writers’ page. All of our sources can be accessed from this page. If you only want to remember one link that goes to all the capstone multilingual resources, this is it. 

There is also a Capstone Multilingual Writing Tip of the Month. We have all the previous months archived. Some are grammatical, like a topic on subject-verb agreement, to things like keeping cohesion in documents. 

I mentioned kits on the previous slide, but this one here is directed specifically at doctoral multilingual students working on their doctoral study or dissertation. This contains resources to help multilingual students navigate these documents. 

There are also the grammar and mechanics pages that help with various English grammar and punctuation. That will really be more of the focus of part 2 of this webinar series, so we will talk about that in the next webinar. 

The next link is to grammar checks and strategies to the SMRTguides. There are three you might find helpful as a capstone multilingual writer. There is one on using a grammar revision journal, there is another on using a corpus to revise for grammar and scholarly voice, and there is one on using a/and/the. 

I also recommend Grammarly. This is a free tool available through the Writing Center. It can provide feedback on grammar, syntax, and spelling errors. It is not fool proof, but it can be helpful for sentence-level grammatical errors. I would recommend giving it a shot. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Questions?

Ask now in the chat box or email us at [email protected]

Audio [Dayna]: That brings us to the end of the content for today and some time for questions. Sam and Anne, I guess I will turn it back to you to see if there are any questions you'd like me to address. 

[Sam:] Hi, Dayna. There haven't been many questions, and I was able to answer them. I will pose this one in a broader way, because this was specific to this student's situation, but maybe others would like to know too. They were wondering what type of coaching might be available during a course. Can you speak to the resources available to students -- I just asked what this is -- it's about completing the prospectus. I suppose the paper review may be still available. What other coaching might be available to students that is maybe even outside of the Writing Center? 

[Dayna:] Good question. I see that someone posted a course -- Completing the Prospectus 8910. Good to know. In the Writing Center, and feel free to speak up if I say something that is incorrect, but my understanding is the writing instructors give feedback on the prospectus. So there are paper review appointments available through the Writing Center, and students can set them up until the point where you have an approved prospectus.

If you are still working on your prospectus, you can set up an appointment with the Writing Center. That is free coaching, and the writing instructors are awesome, so I recommend doing that. 

The prospectus is less content and writing focused. So we encourage students to work closely with their committee during this process, because a lot of it is out of our area of expertise. We can look at the writing, but not at the content. So work closely with your committee there too. 

Anne, do you have anything else to add? 

[Anne:] Yes, absolutely work closely with your committee and faculty member. They are the content experts you want to work with. But that paper review service is available to you, I believe up to three appointments per week. So you can have paper appointments that are pretty regular if you'd like. I dropped a link for this in the chat box, and feel free to email us as well. Thanks, Dayna. 

[Dayna:] Thank you, Anne. All of a sudden, my mic was cutting out! 

Outside of the Writing Center, I know the Academic Skill Center does offer some courses as well. They offer courses for writing the different sections of the capstone. I'm not sure, Anne or Sam, if you could stick a link for that in the chat. I don't have it off the top of my head. But checking out those courses or workshops might be helpful as well. 

Other things I can answer? 

[Anne:] We have a question about resources available for a master's capstone. 

[Dayna:] That is a good question. Yeah [Laughs.] We don't really too much with those. On our end, we only read the doctoral capstones. The resources that are linked to the pages that I was going through, like the general resources, I think could be helpful. 

[Anne:] The paper review service is also available to master's students working on capstones. In particular, as Dayna said, all of our instructors are really excellent and can help you with anything in particular that you'd like during that appointment or for that appointment. 

But we have one senior writing instructor, Amy, who is skilled and loves to work with multilingual students. So go and work with her in our paper review service. 

[Dayna:] I did highlight on our slides the For Capstone Multilingual Writer resources. These are for writers working on their dissertation or doctoral study. But for master's students, there is also a multilingual page. I don't have that link super handy, but I'm not sure, Anne or Sam, that you'd be able to pull that link in. But it will provide you with more general multilingual resources as well. 

These are good questions. Anything else I can answer right now? 

I do see a question that came into the chat about safe assign. Safe assign is an interesting one. It is more, from my understanding, of a general check-off-the-box requirement for writing assignments. It is something students run their document through. It is a good way to self-check that you are meeting those rhetorical expectations and citing ideas correctly. But what I would say is there is not a specific percentage that you could look for on a document. It really depends on the type of document. 

Safe Assign will often pull any direct quotes you have used and highlight it as something that could be plagiarized. You as the writer have to take a look at what is pulled. You have to make a decision and say, "Well, it highlighted this information, but is it actually plagiarized? Did I use direct quotations? Did I cite the source correctly?" So that final percentage is really less important as to what it is pulling out. So don't go off of the percentage, but look at the feedback it's actually providing you, and double check for yourself whether or not it is plagiarized or cited correctly. 

[Sam:] I just added onto that. There may be some variation as to how chairs and URRs and faculty are using Safe Assign. Students might ask that person, "I'm using Safe Assign, and I don't know the expectation. Could you let me know how you use this tool?" We can’t necessarily answer that, it’s something the faculty can answer. The percentage itself doesn’t really tell you anything, you have to really examine what is going on in that percentage. 

[Dayna:] Great, thanks, Sam. I know we are really almost out of time, so Anne, should I turn it back over to you? For anybody who was here, if you think of a question you have later, again, you can email us at [email protected]. Feel free to send us that email. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Don’t Miss Part 2!

[link to registration page for Writing a Doctoral Capstone as a Multilingual Writer: Practical Tips and Resources, Part 2, on December 8, 2020]

Audio: [Anne]: Thanks so much, Dayna. Thanks so much everybody for joining today. As I promised, we would let you know about part 2 of this webinar series. So, part 2 is going to focus on developing scholarly voice, spending time on revision and proofreading, including revising for sentence-level grammar and to recap those resources again. This webinar will be on December 8th, and it will be recorded, so don't worry if you can't make it live or can only attend for part. We hope you will sign up for part 2 as well, and to see you there. 

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Resources

Ferris, D. (2011). Treatment of error in second language student writing (2nd ed.). University of Michigan Press.

Paltridge, B., & Starfield, S. (2007). Thesis and dissertation writing in a second language: A handbook for supervisors. Routledge.

Swales, J. M., & Feak, C. B. (2012). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills (3rd ed.). University of Michigan Press.

Audio [Anne]: As a last note, if you download the slides and want to look at the references used in the presentation, they are available at the end.

Again, this recording will be available on our website later this week. You can access the slides in the files pod, or if you open up the recording later on, the files will be available there as well.

Thank you so much, everybody. Take care, and hope to see you soon. Thanks, Dayna and Sam!

[End of webinar]

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