留学生dissertation独创表达方式的三大诀窍

留学生dissertation独创表达方式的三大诀窍

 

每个写作学术文章的人都是独特的，他们研究的学科或许相同，但生活经历、学术背景、个人目标都不一样，这些独特之处都应该在文章中表达出来。本专栏探讨学者何以该找出个人的表达方式，又该如何进行。每项诀窍都会刊登在 TPS 粉丝页，最后集结于 TPS 学术电子报。

Academic writers are individuals. Though they may pursue a common curricular discipline, they are different from one another in life experience, academic background, and personal goals. All of this should come through in their writing. This series explores why and how scholars can identify individual voices. The series will be presented on the TPS Fan page before being compiled.

 

Tip # 1 – The Importance of You 

诀窍一：知道自己的重要

 

Academia celebrates the great body of knowledge that has been accumulated through the centuries. A scholar’s twin mission is to recognize and access all of that knowledge—and to add to it. This is a grand work that can overwhelm a new scholar, who quite naturally is awed by the work of the many great academicians who preceded him. Consequently, some academic writers try to imitate the best of the writing styles they discover in their research. While emulating greatness is good, subverting one’s own identity in the process is not. You should write as you.

学术界庞大的整体知识，是基于数百年来的累积。每位学者都有两项使命，一项是了解、运用学术知识，另一项是继续累积新的知识。新手学者对第二项使命可能力有未逮，因为学术前辈留下的许多巨作自然令人感到仰之弥高。因此，写作学术文章时，有些人会模仿研究中发现最出色的写作风格。仿效杰作固然不错，写作时却不该放弃个人独到之处。你应该用自己的表达方式写作。

 

Why is this desirable? For one thing, you may be the next great academic writer, but the world will never know it if you don’t write as yourself! Recognizing greatness that emerged in the past does not preclude introducing greatness in the present. Nothing in the academic tradition requires today’s thinkers and writers to be obeisant to yesterday’s. Quite the opposite. Today’s scholars are expected to be stimulated by scholars of the past. As one of today’s scholars, you should use all of your faculties—including your writing intelligence—and become a bridge to the future.

为什么要用自己的表达方式写作？首先，你可能是学术写作的下一个新星，但如果你不表现自我，没有人会发现你的出色之处。了解过去的成就，不代表现在不能创造成就。学术传统并未要求思想家或作者对前人恭顺服从；刚好相反，如今的学者应该受到过去前辈鼓舞驱策。如今你身为学者，应该竭力发挥所能，运用自己的写作技巧，成为通往未来的桥梁。#p#分页标题#e#

 

The fact is, if you imitate a favorite scholar-writer of yesteryear, you cannot do your best work. It is impossible to maximize your talent if a portion of it is left undeveloped. After all, it is your interests that lead you to an academic topic. Research progresses according to the values you place on the key elements of a paper. If you subsequently write in the style or voice of another person, the result will be an academic mish-mash because the writing is not congruent with the thinking behind it. A muddle results. You cannot effectively divorce yourself from your writing.

实际上，如果你一味模仿喜欢的学术前辈，就无法写出最好的作品。如果有些才华受到压抑，你就无法尽情发挥。毕竟，你是基于自己的兴趣钻研某个学术主题，并根据你自己重视的部分推动研究发展。如果你之后却用另一个人的风格或表达方式写文章，结果可能只得到一篇学术杂烩。如果文章无法贴合背后的思想，结果就是一团混乱。人的思考想法很难与文字脱节。

 

诀窍之二：找到自我

每个写作学术文章的人都是独特的，他们研究的学科或许相同，但生活经历、学术背景、个人目标都不一样，这些独特之处都应该在文章中表达出来。本专栏探讨学者何以该找出个人的表达方式，又该如何进行。每项诀窍都会刊登在 TPS 粉丝页，最后集结于 TPS 学术电子报。

Academic writers are individuals. Though they may pursue a common curricular discipline, they are different from one another in life experience, academic background, and personal goals. All of this should come through in their writing. This series explores why and how scholars can identify individual voices. The series will be presented on the TPS Fan page before being compiled.

 

Scholars whose work generally is recognized as superior are confident people. They may be humble, but they are not awed by peers or predecessors. They have personal faith in the value of their own contributions to academic learning. In short, they believe in themselves. This self-esteem sustains them in their search for elusive truth or a critical source. It reassures them as they consider an approach to a subject or as they organize their material for coherent presentation. More to the point, it guides them as they express in their own words what they have discovered.

卓越的学者通常都是有自信的人。他们可能为人谦逊，但不会畏惧同侪或前辈，他们相信自己的贡献对学术知识有价值。简单来说，他们相信自己。自尊自重让他们能坚持下去，寻求难以捉摸的真理或重要的数据源，并让他们在选择研究方法，或组织材料、有条有理地表达时，能更有信心。更重要的是，自尊自重引导他们用自己的话说明研究发现。#p#分页标题#e#

 

How do they peel away self-deception and self-doubt and come to value themselves as valuable academic writers? They test themselves and evaluate the tests. To wit, they introduce metaphors in papers and learn which ones work, and which ones detract. They try various word patterns and phrasing and study the results purely through a reader’s eyes. They use jargon in a fresh way to see if it invigorates a sentence or deadens it. In short, through trial and error, they develop a writing style that is individual and effective as an academic instrument. They develop a voice.

他们怎么避免蒙骗或怀疑自己，最后看重自己的学术文章？答案是藉由一再测试，并评估测试结果。也就是说，他们会在dissertation中使用譬喻，了解哪些譬喻有用，哪些有害。他们尝试各种遣词用字与表达，并完全从读者的角度出发，探讨结果是否理想。他们以创新的方法运用术语，看句子是否更有活力，还是变得死气沉沉。简言之，他们反复试验，发展出个人独特、有力的写作风格，作为学术工具──他们发展出自己的表达方式。

 

Some of this development of an authentic writing voice is accomplished privately. But the ultimate test comes when a paper is submitted to an assigning professor. Besides commenting on topic and treatment, a professor evaluates the writing, and a self-assured writer learns from each evaluation. He may adjust his writing to accommodate criticisms. He will come to see which criticisms are valid and which are subjective and, therefore, less valid. After a few submitted papers, a writer will hit his stride and find his voice, his writing style, and perhaps his vocation.

虽然有些人是靠自己发展出独特的表达方式，但dissertation交给教授后，才是最终的测试。教授除了针对主题与处理给予建议，也会对写作良莠评价。有自信的作者能从每则评价中学习，也许会根据批评调整文章，并评估哪些评价有道理，哪些较主观而不具参考价值。交过几篇dissertation后，作者就能大步前进，找到自己的表达方式、自己的写作风格、甚至找到自己的志业。

 

每个写作学术文章的人都是独特的，他们研究的学科或许相同，但生活经历、学术背景、个人目标都不一样，这些独特之处都应该在文章中表达出来。本专栏探讨学者何以该找出个人的表达方式，又该如何进行。每项诀窍都会刊登在 TPS 粉丝页，最后集结于 TPS 学术电子报。

Academic writers are individuals. Though they may pursue a common curricular discipline, they are different from one another in life experience, academic background, and personal goals. All of this should come through in their writing. This series explores why and how scholars can identify individual voices. The series will be presented on the TPS Fan page before being compiled.#p#分页标题#e#

Tip # 3 – Putting it to Work 

 

Finding your voice is not just finding a writing identity. It is finding effective academic expression in terms that come naturally to you. This is important. Too often, writers who try to write outside themselves in the style of another academician encounter mental blocks. They get stuck and can’t proceed. Writers who have developed an individual voice navigate around these obstacles more easily because their thinking and writing are in harmony. While this advantage sometimes is underappreciated, writers who find their own voice know the difference.

寻找自己的表达方式不只是发展个人写作特色，而是在写学术文章时，用你自然想到的词句，让表达更简洁有力。这一点很重要，常有人想以其他学者的风格写作，结果妨碍了思考，让自己困在原地无法继续。如果能发展出自己的表达方式，代表思考与写作风格能一致，如此就比较容易越过障碍。有些人无法了解其中的好处，但找到自己表达方式的人就知道个中分别。 

 

Whatever voice you have discovered as your own, continue to refine it as your academic career advances. If your voice is didactic—that is, instructive in tone and delivery—help it grow to where you smoothly lead your readers to a conclusion rather than harangue them. If it is vigorous in tone, make sure you don’t wear out your readers with uncontrolled energy. If it is vibrant in its language, guard against overpowering readers with too much imagery and color. Above all, keep your voice active, direct and purposeful. A passive voice will put a reader to sleep every time.

无论你发现自己属于哪一种表达方式，记得在学术生涯中不断精进表达。如果你的表达属于教导式，也就是语调说法是在指导人怎么做，要加强表达，将读者自然导向结论，而不流于冗长的说教。如果你语调铿锵有力，切记不要过分热切，让人读到疲乏。如果你的语言生动活泼，小心别使用过多意象与色彩，让人读到招架不住。最重要的是，表达方式要积极、直接、言之有物，消极被动的表达肯定会让人读到睡着。

 

A personal style of writing is the final piece in a well-organized, thoroughly researched and carefully cited paper. Academic writing is, of course, first “academic” and secondarily “writing.” In other words, a paper’s content, organization, citations, and originality constitute the critical mass in determining its success. Yet writing carries the biggest burden. It transcends all the rest. Writing that is effective and identifiably yours can partly mask a paper’s shortcomings in structure and sourcing, but only partly. Never rely on an authentic voice to sell a poor paper.#p#分页标题#e#

一篇dissertation如果结构严谨、研究透澈、引用清楚，再运用个人独特的表达方式，就能画龙点睛。学术写作首要自然还是「学术」，其次才是「写作」。换言之，一篇dissertation的内容、架构、引用、原创性最重要，决定了dissertation成败。不过写作凌驾其他部分，肩负表达文章主旨的大任。如果写作清楚准确，并有你自己独有的表达方式，可以掩盖dissertation结构与引用数据的部分缺点，但也只是部份而已。千万别想靠独创的表达方式来掩盖dissertation的拙劣。