学术英语社科

学术英语社科Academic English for Social Sciences

10The Study of Politicsas a ScienceWhy is the study of politics not called “politics” but “political science”? What renders the study of political science? This unit may help us find the answers by providing insight into the nature of political science and the kind of work political scientists do.

Unit 10 The Study of Politics as a Science

Unit Contents

Text A

Text B

ListeningSpeaking

Writing

Lead-in

Text C

• Lead-in

– Lead-in task


Firstly, there is a constitutional division of (1) ____________________, each level being autonomous in at least one sphere of action. So an obvious sort of division, under a federal system, would be (2) _____________________ in the hands of the central government or federal government, with education being a state or local responsibility. Secondly, each government is (3) ________________ in its constitutionally assigned area. Thirdly, both levels act directly (4) _____________. Fourthly, both levels derive their powers from the sovereign, from the people or the (5) __________, rather than from one another. Fifthly, therefore, neither can change the relationship unilaterally, and finally, such systems normally have (6) ________________. The states exist as of their own right.

Lead-in

Task 1 Listen to a short talk on classical federalism ( 联邦主义 ) and fill in the blanks according to what you have heard.


governmental functions

defence responsibilities

final and supremeon the citizens

constitution

regional divisions

Task 2 Listen again and check your answers.

• Text A

– Critical reading and thinking

– English language for

academic purpose• Specialized vocabulary• Signpost language• Formal English


Text A

Critical reading and thinking of Text A

Text Analysis

Definition of political science:

the study of the struggles, both small and large, of who gets what, when, how, in an effort to develop general principles or theories about the way the world of politics works.


Text A


Text Analysis

Major sub-fields (Para 1) eight major sub-fields

To find out the sub-headings in Text A which demonstrates a more detailed sketch of the work political scientists do.


Text ACritical reading and thinking of Text A

Text Analysis

1. Investigating relationships2. Building theories 1) What is hypothesis? Statements that researchers construct for the

purpose of testing whether or not a certain relationship exists between two phenomena

2) How to build theories? By developing and testing hypothesis. e.g. We want to know whether presidential

elections are affected by economic conditions.


Text A


Text Analysis

Hypothesis:

When the national unemployment rate is greater than seven percent at the time of the election, presidential incumbents are not reelected.


Text A


Text Analysis

3. Collecting data1) the dependent variable of the hypothesis: the reelection of incumbent presidents

2) the independent variable: the national unemployment rate

3) the finding: In most cases the incumbent lost when the national

unemployment rate was greater than 7 percent at the time of a presidential election.



Text Analysis

5. Clear, consistent, objective writing→avoid the use of impressionistic or metaphorical language;→persuade through their command of the facts and their ability to relate those facts to theories;→clarity and concision (e.g. clearly define terms/concepts)→operationalize key terms→operationalization: the process of specifying the extension of a concept – describing what is and is not a part of that concept



Text Analysis

e.g. anger

It is difficult to measure “anger” in empirical research. We need to have more precise criteria with which to measure or assess it. Such criteria in this case can include facial expression, choice of vocabulary, loudness and tone of voice.


Specialized vocabulary

Text AEnglish language for academic purpose

Translate the following terms into Chinese:


1 political science2 comparative politics3 international relations4 political methodology5 public policy6 public administration

Do Task 2 on page 204

Signpost language

2) Major signposts that signal key aspects of yourwork, such as structure, main points, conclusion

etc.

There are two kinds of signpost language:

1) Linking words and phrases that we have discussed in previous units.



Signpost language

→To summarize the findings of the study This study has shown that… The main finding of this thesis is that… This study demonstrates that…

Here are some examples highly useful in academic writing:

→To remind the reader of the purpose or focus of the study The present study investigates… The aim of this study was to… This study set out to assess the impact of…



Signpost language

→To point out the limitations of the study The study has a number of possible limitations. The main limitation of this study is that… The above analysis does not enable us to determine…

→To indicate the importance of the findings This is the first study, to our knowledge, to examine… These results describe for the first time… Only one other study, to our knowledge, has examined…



→To recommend further research Future studies with statistical analyses… would be of interest. Several questions remain to be resolved; in particular… More research in this area is necessary before… Further studies are required to establish…

Signpost language



After class, find a published paper in your discipline, scan the paper and highlight themajor signposts. Check if you find the above expressions in the paper.

2

Formal English

Go over the tips on how to make your writing appropriate for academic writing.

Then do Task 3 on page 206.



1 political science __________2 comparative politics __________3 international relations __________4 political methodology ___________5 public policy __________6 public administration ___________

Suggested answersText A


Language building-up

Task 1 Specialized vocabulary

1 Translate the following terms into Chinese.

政治学比较政治国际关系

政治学方法论公共政策

公共行政管理

1. Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics.

2 Translate the following sentences into English using the above terms.



Language building-upTask 1 Specialized vocabulary

2. Comparative politics is a subfield of political science, characterized by an empirical approach based on the comparative method.

3. International relations research covers international politics, current affairs, diplomacy, and global cultures.

4. Political methodology is a subfield of Political Science that studies the quantitative methods used to study politics.

2 Translate the following sentences into English using the above terms.



Language building-upTask 1 Specialized vocabulary

5. Public policy is a governmental attempt to address a public issue.

6. One of the oldest professions, public administration has long involved logistical issues of government.

1. generalized use of “you” Corrected Version: Evidence of abuse is frequently found as

soon as the public administration issues are studied carefully.



Language building-upTask 3 Formal English

2. use of contractions like couldn't, can't, isn't Corrected Version: The panel could not establish the cause

of the disaster and in the end no blame was attached to the company.

3. inappropriately informal language like great Corrected Version: The results of the government study

were highly useful because they enabled the university to fund the new department.



Language building-upTask 3 Formal English

4. rhetorical questions should be avoided Corrected Version: It is questionable whether the "Design

School Model" provides a practical solution to the problem of strategy formulation.

• Text B

– Critical reading and thinking

– Difficult sentences

– English language for academic purpose


The two sub-headings indicate the structure of the text:

Text Analysis

1. The primary task of the major in political science

Text BCritical reading and thinking


2. The context of political study

Text Analysis


Compare traditional political science education and the author’s suggestions about it.

Traditional political- science Education The author’s suggestions

Goal

Content

End Products Politically-literate college graduates

Context


civic education, political socialization

maximizing students' capacity to analyze, and even shape political events and governmental processes

education for citizenship, education for public service, international relations

knowledge of political science and related disciplines

political scientists, good citizens

U.S.-centered the whole world, including non-Western cultures

Do Task 2 on page 211.

Text Analysis



Text BDifficult sentences

• It should aim at turning politically interested and concerned students, whatever their career plans or their other interests, into politically literate college graduates. (Para. 4)

→ It should try to educate any college students (even

if they are not political science students) who are interested in or concerned with political issues to have the basic working knowledge of political science.



• It should equip them intellectually to comprehend and deal with their political world after graduation, in ways appropriate to their individual inclinations, be it “merely” as intelligent citizens, as journalists, as active participants in business or in electoral politics, as candidates for office or as public officials, or even as academic political scientists. (Para. 4)

→ It should help them after graduation from college to understand and handle political issues in ways that satisfy their personal goals which can vary from just being an intelligent citizen, to being a journalist, an active participant of business or politics, or even being a political science academian.



• We do not believe we are abandoning or short-changing them. (Para. 4)

→ We do not think we are giving up on students or just not doing our best to educate them.



• It is incumbent on political science to communicate not just the fact of ethnic and cultural pluralism, but some sense of the rapidly growing, intricate global interdependence of the lives and activities of all the world’s nations and people. (Para.5)

→ It is the duty of political science to not just tell students that there are many ethnic groups and different cultures in the world, but also to develop their awareness of how these groups and cultures are increasingly becoming interdependent of each other.



• …political power realities of a bygone era… (Para. 6)

→ … the past political power realities that is no longer the reality…


• how specific cultural biases color their own outlooks as well as those of “others” (Para. 9)

→ …how specific cultural biases blind them to their own point of views and those of people who they see as others

Specialized vocabulary and Collocations

English language for academic purpose

civic educationpolitical socializationgovernmental actionselectoral politicspublic officialspopulation explosionbygone eraminority groupsacquaint sb. with

Text BUnit 10 The Study of Politics as a Science

• Text C

– Suggested answers


UN: ________________________________________UNCED:_________________________________________ NGO:________________________________________WSSD:_______________________________________EDC:_________________________________________LDC:_________________________________________

Suggested answers

Text CUnit 10 The Study of Politics as a Science

Task Write the full names of the following acronyms( 首字母缩写词 ) with the help of the text or dictionaries.

United Nations

UN Conference on Environment and Developmentnon-Government OrganizationWorld Summit on Sustainable DevelopmentEconomically developed countryLeast Developed Country

• Listening


–Listening tasks

Listening

Academic activities

integrated practice

Review what academic listening strategies we have covered in the previous units.

Do Task 1 and Task 2 on pages 214-215.


Listening

Task 1 Why are people poor?

Listening tasks

Task 2 Listen to the lecture again and complete the notes according to what you have heard.

Why people are poor: explanations of different historical eras

Before the 19th century:

__________________________________

In the later 19th century:

___________________________________________

The present:

1 _____________________

2 ______________

people were poor because they were not working hard.

people were poor because it was their fate.

the culture of poverty view

Neo-Marxist view


Listening

Task 3 Listen to the lecture for a third time and complete the sentences according to what you have heard.

Listening tasks


1. The poverty line is the below which people

cannot afford to they require to live.

2. People were poor because they were .

That’s how they were born.

3. The poor seemed to be thriftless, , undisciplined, and

, and morals.

4. So the first view seems to be that people are poor because

of whereas the second view seems to suggest

that they have the because of their

poverty.

level of income

purchase the resources supposed to be poor

lazy

lacked initiative

their cultureparticular way of life

• Speaking


–Speaking skills

Speaking

→eye contact

→posture

→movements

→gesture

→note-cards

→volume


Improve your delivery

Speaking

Have I practiced several times?Did I get feedback from a peer?Have I timed the presentation?Do I introduce myself?Do I maintain eye contact?Do I explain my visuals?Do I pause sometimes and check for understanding?Do I use correct pronunciation?Am I using appropriate volume so that everyone can hear?


Presentation checklist

• Writing

– Abstract

– Acknowledgements


Writing

An abstract includes the following components in a brief way:

Abstract


a topicresearch questions methods resultsand conclusions

Writing

Acknowledgements


Give thanks to those who have helped you at any stage in the research or writing-up process.

Use a variety of sentence structures and vocabulary to make the acknowledgements more interesting.

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