Texting
You take that information from the literature collected, which you require for your lines of thought and argumentation leading finally to answering the research question developed. Thus, the research question is crucial for the selection of information gained by reading. Frequently it happens that the deriving text body changes its shape for several times from the draft at the beginning to the final text. However, it is in no way recommendable to simply start writing. You may also design the procedure of writing in an efficient way. There are several methods for this which will be described in the following. For comprehensive information and individual consulting, you are welcome to address to the Texting Assistance of Chemnitz University of Technology.
Structuring
- It is recommendable to check again and again each step of thinking whether it fits logically in your line of thoughts or in your own argumentation: What is presumption, what is conclusion? Do subsequent aspects logically derive from the precedent? Do those aspects mandatorily have to be discussed in order to find an answer to the own research question? Do those aspects logically lead to answering the research question (or a sub-question)?
- The own line of thought consists frequently of sub- and collateral lines supposed to emphasize the argumentation within the main line. In order to clarify that those sub- and collateral strings make sense and are necessary and in order to prevent that you lose your
red thread
, you should avoid to jump back and forth from one to the other. - The written text should be structured into shorter, thematically-corresponding sections. Beware of text blocks longer than half of a page!
- Assertions and generalizations should be avoided and being assessed whether the binding or non-binding character of a statement is linguistically clearly marked (direct citation).
- All references within a text (this, the prior, subsequently) have to be carried out in a linguistically sophisticated way and must not lead
to nowhere
.
Visualization
Does the presentation method selected correspond to the content?
It might be possible that entire text blocks may be replaced by one single visualization. Or that a text may be accentuated by a video-tutorial? For making them, there is easily manageable openly accessible software in the internet (Windows Movie Maker, OpenShot, Video Editor etc.).
A picture is worth a thousand words.
For this purpose as well, there are platforms in the internet with public-domain motifs (e.g. Shutterstock, Pixabay, Freepik). However, it is recommendable to always carefully read the conditions for usage (licenses) of the respective provider in order to avoid subsequent unpleasant surprises!
Frequently, a self-made, carefully-elaborated and clear presentation is absolutely sufficient.
In case of a powerpoint-presentation, there are several aspects which should be observed.
On the one hand, there is a corporate design at Chemnitz University of Technology with quite a lot of mandatory regulations. Some professorship insist on its usage, others not, so this should be asked before. In case that presentations have to be made LaTeX, there are templates provided as well.
On the other hand, it is self-evident that presentations shall be informative as much as possible but also entertaining and in no way overcharging the audience. An interesting approach regarding that was presented by the famous TED Talk Death by Powerpoint.
Hint
From time to time, the University Computer Center offers courses dealing with Powerpoint (with a focus on technical aspects) and at some professorships there a guidelines for proper presentations in academic contexts – for example at the Professorship of General Psychology and Biopsychology.
Texting
Avoiding convoluted sentences
:
Convoluted sentences make it more complicated to understand the text. For this reason, they should be applied rarely or being avoided, if possible. A series of short but concise sentences would be the better option.
Moderate usage of foreign/ technical terms:
Technical terms should be used with an intention. For this reason, they shall be applied in particular in cases that they are absolutely necessary for explaining the own ideas and thoughts. They are also applicable in cases that paraphrasing them would require complicated and long text blocks, that they are stylistically/ thematically appropriate or when citing other elaborations. Technical terms make also sense when reflecting the state of research with regard to the topic processed.
Puns, enigmatic expressions, rhetorical figures:
All of them may flavor
a text and make it interesting – however only in the case when they are used in a moderate and comprehensible way. It is recommendable to assess respective expressions on potential ambiguities which may lead to misunderstandings! In case of doubt, you should consult an external person.
Involve external persons:
Again and again, the wording of the text should be assessed whether the line of thought intended is received by the reader in the way intended. In case of doubt, it might be useful to ask an external person to read the text and to tell the content in own words.
Simplicity
To present knowledge in a simple way – this sounds very easy although it is not. Right in contrary, it is much easier to present knowledge in a complicated manner as it is not easy to present knowledge in a simply way but this requires many linguistic, technical and graphical skills – however, it is worth the effort.
Why it is advantageous to present knowledge in a simple
way?
- The (core) ideas are really received by the reader in the way intended.
- It is more motivating for the reader to follow lines of thought expressed in a clear and simple manner.
- Simple language does not mean everyday language. Elements of oral speech should be avoided as well.
- Simplicity provides the opportunity to reflect again the own line of thought/ the own reasoning. Only if you clearly know what you would like to teach in which manner to the reader, you will be able to present your knowledge in a simple way.
- By simplicity in the kind of design (e.g. by an image or a graphic), the information presented will become more entertaining and more interesting for the reader.
- Knowledge presented in a simple way is automatically more accessible for impaired persons.
Accessibility for impaired persons
If you would like to provide and make accessible information to the grand public, you should pay attention to make it possible for impaired persons as well to receive them. For this reason, within an oral presentation all should be explained what cannot be seen. For presentations put online, you should make uses of assisting tools (e.g. PDF Accessibility Checker) in order to turn them barrier-free.
In case that it would be time-consuming to make your original-version accessible for impaired persons, you may also generate a parallel second simplified version which is better accessible or barrier-free (e.g. by omission of graphics not absolutely necessary for the understanding).
In order to provide access also to persons who speak only few or no German as well, you may add subtitles in foreign languages to video-tutorials or design presentation slides in several languages, for instance. In case of oral presentations for a multilingual audience you may e.g. hold the presentation in German but design the slides in another language.