Jayne Pearson

SACE 700
Definitions
Can you explain the following words?
How does their use change when considering
critiquing an academic article?
Critical
Criticise
Critic
Critique
Criticism
Criticality
Criticality
We usually think of these things as being critical:
Supporting ideas with evidence from research and
reading
Looking at both sides and coming to a conclusion
Demonstrating deeper thought
The ability to evaluate strong points and weak points
BUT:
What is criticality in your discipline? E.g. LAW
analysis, PHYSICS: valid and reliable test results
What does a critical review do?
T/F?
It summarises the main points in the research article
It says why the research article is not very good
It looks at what other writers say about the article
It should only focus on the weak areas
It should suggest areas for improvement
It should look at the language and structure
It should make conclusions about the contribution of
the article to its field
Answers
It summarises the main points in the research
article
It says why the research article is not very good
It looks at what other writers say about the article
It should only focus on the weak areas
It should suggest areas for improvement
It should look at the language and structure
It should make conclusions about the
contribution of the article
Evaluation: What do the following terms mean?
Purpose
Audience
Relevance
Ethics
Participant
Implications
Methods
Methodology
Correlation
Qualitative
Quantitative
Types of source:
Can I use an article from the newspaper?
No. This task requires you to evaluate an academic text.
Can I use an article from serious magazines such as
The Economist or Time?
No, although these sources can be used in some academic
assignments they cannot be used for the critique task.
How about using a text from a website?
This depends on the type of website but generally the
answer would be no as it is not an academic source. An
online journal article is fine.
Problematic sources:
Is it okay to use an article that is a review of the field?
These types of articles are incredibly useful for future
academic research but are not really appropriate for this
kind of exercise as you will find it difficult to critique a list
of previous studies.
I have found a critique of another article, can I
critique this?
Evaluating an article that is already evaluating or critiquing
another article is rather difficult we would only
recommend this if you are very familiar with the topic.
Alternatively, critique the original article and use the
published critique as support
 Can I critique an article that is written in my own
language?
Some departments will allow you to use non-English
sources in your future academic assignments but in the
English Language Centre this is not allowed this is an
academic English course.
Is it possible to critique only one part of an article or
chapter?
Yes. Sometimes the chapter raises many different points
you may only want to focus on one or two of these.
Furthermore, if the text is an empirical study you may only
wish to evaluate one part of it, for instance the
methodology or discussion section.
Common difficulties
Can I critique the language or the organisation of the text?
We would advise students against doing this. If you are unable to
understand the text it may not mean that it is badly written or
poorly organised. Your article will have been peer-reviewed
which means that it will have been edited and checked by
experts.
I cannot find anything bad/wrong with my article, how can
I critique it?
Critiquing an article does not only mean focusing on its negative
aspects, so you can write about the positive aspects of the article
as long as you can justify this. However, it is unlikely that you
will find nothing to critique! Start with what the article says
about its own limitations in the conclusion/discussion section.
Other considerations
Does the article have to be recently published?
As a general rule or guide you should aim to choose
something that has been published in the last ten
years or so due to the fact that older articles may not
reflect current thought or development in a field.
However, this is not set in stone.
Can I use the same article as another student?
We would advise against it to avoid any potential
issues of plagraism or collusion on TURNITIN.
However, you can use a similar topic or even from the
same journal or source.
You are going to watch a TED talk
by Sugatra Mitra
Listen and make notes on the following:
When/where/why did the current model of education originate?

What skills were students expected to learn?

What problems are there with this model today?

What were the hole in the wall experiments? What does he claim
this shows us about education?

What is his main argument about education?

Can you critique any aspect of his talk?

Now read an article about the Hole
in the Wall project
Is this article academic? How do you know?

Summarise the main criticisms. Did you think any of

them earlier? Do any of them surprise you? Do you
agree or disagree with them?
Next week
We will look at what the purpose and structure of an
academic article
We will look at an academic critique of a published
article
We will revisit how to search for and evaluate sources
We will examine specific criteria for critiquing an
article and learn some vocabulary/grammar structures
associated with that.
Homework
How would you describe the way you participate in class? Think of things like
contribution to discussions, reaction to other students opinions and
difficulties or challenges that you may face.

How important do you think the issue of cultural differences is in a classroom?

What do you think it means when a student remains silent in class?

Homework: Research and Reading

Use Google Scholar to find the source below find and then read the article

Morita, N.(2004). Negotiating participation and identity in second language

academic communities. TESOL Quarterly 38/4 573-603.

Bring to class for discussion next week