“How to write like a scholar / scientist” 是很多開始要學習、甚至是寫一陣子英文學術寫作的人、乃至教授,仍會感到困難的點,主要原因是都用「以戰代練」的方式學習,所以很容易東一個洞、西一個洞。這篇文章我會帶你看如何從 before 變成 after。 

(Before)

We’ve been trying to understand why Squid Game is so popular. 

(After)

Various attempts have been made to account for the popularity — if not the success — of the Korean TV series Squid Game (Oyama, 2021; Selinker, 2021).

學術英文寫作和一般英文寫作的差異,主要有 4 大面向:

  1. 充滿細節補述、態度勾勒
  2. 避免武斷言論、以過去研究支持論述 
  3. 高語域(high register)
  4. 高頻片語、慣用句型

(Before)

We’ve been trying to understand why Squid Game is so popular. 

(After 1)

若我要圍繞在《Squid Game》的人氣去做寫作,遵照第 3 點(high register)的原則我會做這樣的改變:

Attempts have been made to account for the popularity of Squid Game.

(After 2)

再根據第 1 點(補充細節、態度勾勒)的原則,可以再調整成:

Various attempts have been made to account for the popularity — if not the success — of the Korean TV series Squid Game (Oyama, 2021; Selinker, 2021).

依照第 4 點的原則,可以善用 「一段時間 + see / witness 變化、現象」這樣的高頻學術用法做出下方的調整:

The past few months has witnessed the mounting popularity of the Korean TV series Squid Game. 

或是使用 “gain traction” 這樣的高頻學術搭配詞,調整成:

The Korean TV series Squid Game has gained traction throughout the globe.

英文學術寫作要寫好,有不少跟一般英語學習不同之處,需要特別注意、學習、練習的地方。如果你現在是大學生、研究生、或是未來有學術英文寫作的需求,歡迎索取 《學術英文寫作》 公開課,我會告訴你如何有系統的學好 academic writing (research writing)!


原文發表於:Alexander Wang 王梓沅英文・Oct 11