ING 600 COURSE BOOK

ING 600 COURSE BOOK ACADEMIC READING & WRITING UNIT 3

1

THE RESEARCHED ESSAY

2

3

The Creators of Grammar

N

o student of a foreign language needs to be told that grammar is complex.

By changing word sequences and by adding a range of auxiliary verbs and suffixes, we are able to communicate tiny variations in meaning. We can turn a statement into a question, state whether an action has taken place or is soon to take place, and perform many other word tricks to convey subtle differences in meaning. Nor is this complexity inherent to the English language. All languages, even those of so-called ‘primitive’ tribes have clever grammatical components. The Cherokee pronoun system, for example, can distinguish between ‘you and I’, ‘several other people and I’ and ‘you, another person and I’. In English, all these meanings are summed up in the one, crude pronoun ‘we’. Grammar is universal and plays a part in every language, no matter how widespread it is. So the question which has baffled many linguists is - who created grammar?

At first, it would appear that this question is impossible to answer. To find out how grammar is created, someone needs to be present at the time of a language’s creation, documenting its emergence.

Many historical linguists are able to trace modern complex languages back to earlier languages, but in order to answer the question of how complex languages are actually formed, the researcher needs to observe how languages are started from scratch. Amazingly, however, this is possible.

Some of the most recent languages evolved due to the Atlantic slave trade. At that time, slaves from a number of different ethnicities were forced to work together under colonizer’s rule. Since they had no opportunity to learn each other’s languages, they developed a make-shift language called a pidgin. Pidgins are strings of words copied from the language of the landowner. They have little in the way of grammar, and in many cases it is difficult for a listener to deduce when an event happened, and who did what to whom. [A] Speakers need to use circumlocution in order to make their meaning understood. [B] Interestingly, however, all it takes for a pidgin to become a complex language is for a group of children to be exposed to it at the time when they learn their mother tongue. [C] Slave children did not simply copy the strings of words uttered by their elders, they adapted their words to create a new, expressive language. [D] Complex grammar systems which emerge from pidgins are termed creoles, and they are invented by children.

4

Further evidence of this can be seen in studying sign languages for the deaf. Sign languages are not simply a series of gestures; they utilise the same grammatical machinery that is found in spoken languages. Moreover, there are many different languages used worldwide.

The creation of one such language was documented quite recently in Nicaragua. Previously, all deaf people were isolated from each other, but in 1979 a new government introduced schools for the deaf. Although children were taught speech and lip reading in the classroom, in the playgrounds they began to invent their own sign system, using the gestures that they used at home. It was basically a pidgin.

Each child used the signs differently, and there was no consistent grammar. However, children who joined the school later, when this inventive sign system was already around, developed a quite different sign language. Although it was based on the signs of the older children, the younger children’s language was more fluid and compact, and it utilised a large range of grammatical devices to clarify meaning. What is more, all the children used the signs in the same way. A new creole was born.

Some linguists believe that many of the world’s most established languages were creoles at first. The English past tense –ed ending may have evolved from the verb ‘do’. ‘It ended’ may once have been ‘It end-did’. Therefore it would appear that even the most widespread languages were partly created by children. Children appear to have innate grammatical machinery in their brains, which springs to life when they are first trying to make sense of the world around them. Their minds can serve to create logical, complex structures, even when there is no grammar present for them to copy.

1. In paragraph 1, why does the writer include information about the Cherokee language?

A B C D

To show how simple, traditional cultures can have complicated grammar structures To show how English grammar differs from Cherokee grammar To prove that complex grammar structures were invented by the Cherokees.

To demonstrate how difficult it is to learn the Cherokee language

2. What can be inferred about the slaves’ pidgin language?

A B C D

It contained complex grammar.

It was based on many different languages.

It was difficult to understand, even among slaves.

It was created by the land-owners.

5

3. All the following sentences about Nicaraguan sign language are true EXCEPT: A The language has been created since 1979.

B The language is based on speech and lip reading.

C The language incorporates signs which children used at home.

D The language was perfected by younger children.

4. In paragraph 3, where can the following sentence be placed?

It included standardised word orders and grammatical markers that existed in neither the pidgin language, nor the language of the colonizers.

A B C D 5. ‘From scratch’ in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to: A from the very beginning B in simple cultures C by copying something else D by using written information 6. ‘Make-shift’ in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to: A complicated and expressive B simple and temporary C extensive and diverse D private and personal 7. Which sentence is closest in meaning to the highlighted sentence?

Grammar is universal and plays a part in every language, no matter how widespread it is.

A All languages, whether they are spoken by a few people or a lot of people, contain grammar.

B Some languages include a lot of grammar, whereas other languages contain a little.

C Languages which contain a lot of grammar are more common that languages that contain a little.

D The grammar of all languages is the same, no matter where the languages evolved.

6

8. All of the following are features of the new Nicaraguan sign language EXCEPT: A All children used the same gestures to show meaning.

B The meaning was clearer than the previous sign language.

C The hand movements were smoother and smaller.

D New gestures were created for everyday objects and activities.

9. Which idea is presented in the final paragraph?

A English was probably once a creole.

B The English past tense system is inaccurate.

C Linguists have proven that English was created by children.

D Children say English past tenses differently from adults.

10. Look at the word ‘consistent’ in paragraph 4. This word could best be replaced by which of the following?

A natural B predictable C imaginable D uniform

Source: Exam English. (2014). TOEFL Reading Test 1, Exam English. Retrieved from http://www.examenglish.com/TOEFL/TOEFL_reading1.htm

7

H

Risk-Taking and the Monkey Economy

umans are uniquely smart among all the other species on the planet. We are capable of outstanding feats of technology and engineering. Then why are we so prone to making mistakes? And why do we tend to make the same ones time and time again? When Primate Psychologist Laurie Santos from the Comparative Cognition Lab at Yale University posed this question to her team, they were thinking in particular of the errors of judgement which led to the recent collapse of the financial markets. Santos came to two possible answers to this question. Either humans have designed environments which are too complex for us to fully understand, or we are biologically prone to making bad decisions.

In order to test these theories, the team selected a group of Brown Capuchin monkeys. Monkeys were selected for the test because, as distant relatives of humans, they are intelligent and have the capacity to learn.

However, they are not influenced by any of the technological or cultural environments which affect human decision-making.

The team wanted to test whether the capuchin monkeys, when put into similar situations as humans, would make the same mistakes.

[A] Of particular interest to the scientists was whether monkeys would make the same mistakes when making financial decisions. [B] In order to find out, they had to introduce the monkeys to money. [C] The monkeys soon cottoned on, and as well as learning simple exchange techniques, were soon able to distinguish ‘bargains’ – If one team-member offered two grapes in exchange for a metal disc and another team-member offered one grape, the monkeys chose the two-grape option. [D] Interestingly, when the data about the monkey’s purchasing strategies was compared with economist’s data on human behaviour, there was 8

a perfect match.

So, after establishing that the monkey market was operating effectively, the team decided to introduce some problems which humans generally get wrong. One of these issues is risk-taking. Imagine that someone gave you $1000. In addition to this $1000, you can receive either A) an additional $500 or B) someone tosses a coin and if it lands ‘heads’ you receive an additional $1000, but if it lands ‘tails’ you receive no more money. Of these options, most people tend to choose option A. They prefer guaranteed earnings, rather than running the risk of receiving nothing.

Now imagine a second situation in which you are given $2000. Now, you can choose to either A) lose $500, leaving you with a total of $1500, or B) toss a coin; if it lands ‘heads’ you lose nothing, but if it lands ‘tails’ you lose $1000, leaving you with only $1000. Interestingly, when we stand to lose money, we tend to choose the more risky choice, option B. And as we know from the experience of financial investors and gamblers, it is unwise to take risks when we are on a losing streak.

So would the monkeys make the same basic error of judgement? The team put them to the test by giving them similar options. In the first test, monkeys had the option of exchanging their disc for one grape and receiving one bonus grape, or exchanging the grape for one grape and sometimes receiving two bonus grapes and sometimes receiving no bonus. It turned out that monkeys, like humans, chose the less risky option in times of plenty. Then the experiment was reversed. Monkeys were offered three grapes, but in option A were only actually given two grapes.

In option B, they had a fifty-fifty chance of receiving all three grapes or one grape only. The results were that monkeys, like humans, take more risks in times of loss.

The implications of this experiment are that because monkeys make the same irrational judgements that humans do, maybe human error is not a result of the complexity of our financial institutions, but is imbedded in our evolutionary history. If this is the case, our errors of judgement will be very difficult to overcome. On a more optimistic note however, humans are fully capable of overcoming limitations once we have identified them. By recognising them, we can design technologies which will help us to make better choices in future.

9

1 What was the aim of the experiment outlined above?

A To investigate whether monkeys could learn to use money B To investigate where human mistakes come from C To find out whether it is better to take risks in times of loss D To determine whether monkeys make more mistakes than humans 2 Where in paragraph 3 could the sentence below be best placed?

The team distributed metal discs to the monkeys, and taught them that the discs could be exchanged with team-members for food.

A B C D 3 Which of the following statements is the best paraphrase of the highlighted sentence?

On a more optimistic note however, humans are fully capable of overcoming limitations once we have identified them.

A B C D

Hopefully, humans will soon be able to solve these problems.

Fortunately, humans can solve problems that we know about.

Luckily, humans do not have many limitations which have been identified.

We are happy to note that we can solve the problem which we have identified.

4 The words ‘cottoned on’ are closest in meaning to: A learnt B knew C completed D concluded 5 Which paragraph addresses why monkeys were chosen for the experiment?

A Paragraph 2 B Paragraph 3 C Paragraph 4 D Paragraph 5 6 What can be inferred about Laurie Santos?

A She thinks that both humans and monkeys are greedy.

B Her job frequently involves working with monkeys.

C She believes that humans should never take risks.

D She prefers monkeys to humans.

10

7 Which THREE of the following statements are supported by the text?

A B C D E

Both monkeys and humans take risks at any opportunity.

Risk-taking behaviour among humans is the same as that among monkeys.

Human mistakes are due to the complexity of our environment.

Monkeys and humans take more risks if there is the chance they will lose out.

Humans’ perception of risk has probably been part of our minds for millions of years.

F Monkeys make fewer errors of judgement that humans do.

Source: Exam English. (2014). TOEFL Reading Test 3, Exam English. Retrieved from http://www.examenglish.com/TOEFL/TOEFL_reading 3.htm

The university has its “Academic Honest Campaign” with a big focus on eliminating student plagiarism. Any student caught plagiarizing will receive severe academic sanctions.Students can avoid being accused of plagiarizing by properly quoting and citing their sources in a recognized style guide. UDLA has decided to use APA style, which is what we will use for ING 600.

Students can NOT copy-paste the words of others, unless these words are treated as direct quotations. The following is an example of a direct quotation.

Charles Tilly (1975) is infamously known for having argued that “War made the state, and the state made war” (p. 47).

“War made the state, and the state made war” (Tilly, 1975, p. 47).

Direct quotations should be minimized in academic writing, because students should always seek to put ideas into their own words. The above quotation is ideal because it is short and introduces a leading theory in the debate over how modern states came into being. Moreover, its author is acknowledged within the text through an embedded citation.

This embedded citation will have a corresponding complete citation in the reference section at the end of the essay.

11

When students make an argument that is not their original idea, or when they paraphrase someone else’s argument, the original author must be cited.

It would be misleading to say that wars never occur in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, a crucial difference between wars in Africa and the history of war in Europe is that, in Africa, wars are rarely fought between countries (Herbst, 1990, p. 123).

When students use factual information, such as statistics, a source should be provided.

Why? First, either an individual or an institution had to spend time and money doing the research to get those statistics, and therefore, they deserve the credit. Second, the accuracy of some statistics is contested and therefore it is important to know where the information comes from.r” In 2012, China’s gross domestic product (GDP) was nearly $12.4 trillion at purchasing power parity (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013).

The Central Intelligence Agency (2013) measured China’s gross domestic product at nearly $12.4 trillion in 2012.

The institution does not have to be cited within the text, but there should be a clear citation so that the reader can find the statistical information used. It is possible that other institutions may calculate China’s GDP differently, such as the World Bank. For example, the GDP Per Capita of Qatar is contested—Qatar is either the first or second wealthiest country in the world per person depending on which institution the information comes from.

Students will use “embedded citations” for their essays, which are the easiest form of intext citations. They simply require the author’s last name or the institution name, the year of publication, and the page number (if available), which are put in parentheses at the end of a sentence. Page numbers should be included for direct quotations.

(Author’s last name, year of publication, page number) Ex: According to some scholars, global warming is a “hoax” (Parker, 2010, p. 17).

12

If the name of the author or the institution is written in the sentence, then the citation is a little different.

Ex: Parker (2010) argued that global warming is a “hoax” (p. 17).

Students must include a reference section at the end of their written work, which provides complete references for all research materials. These materials must be cited properly, which means not simply including a website link for online sources. Here is a list of the most common types of citations using the APA Style Guide.

Last name, First name initials. (Year of publication). Title of the book in italics. City of publication: Publisher name.

Austin, J. H. (1998). Zen and the Brain: Toward an understanding of meditation and consciousness. Massachusetts: MIT Press.

Last name, First name initials, & Last name, First name initials. (Year of publication). Title of the book in italics. City of publication: Publisher name.

Calarco, M., & Atterton, P. (2009). Animal Philosophy: Essential readings. New York City: Continuum.

Editor’s last name, First name initials (Ed.). (Year of publication). Title of the book in italics. City of publication: Publisher name.

Ickes, W. (Ed.). (1998). Empathic accuracy. New York City: Guilford Press.

13

Last name, First name initials. (Year of publication). Title of the article. Title of the Journal in italics, volume number (issue number), first page-last page.

Oware, M. (2009). Contradictory messages in the songs of female rappers. Journal of Black Studies 39(5), 786-802.

Name of author or institution. (Online publication date). Title of the website. Retrieved from URL. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2009). H1N1 Flu (“Swine Flu�). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/qa.htm

14

Put the following information into correct references citations following the APA manual of style 6ht edition

Author’s name: Winston Churchill Book title: The Second World War Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company Place of publication: Great Britain Year of publication: 1948 Author’s name: James D. Fearon Article name: Rationalist Explanations for War Journal name: International Organization Year of publication: 1995 Volume: 49 Pages: 379–414 Author’s name: Kenneth Waltz Book title: Man, the State, and War Publisher: Columbia University Press Place of publication: New York Year of publication: 1959

Exercises: Find and correct the mistakes in each citation given.

Salomon and Vazire have found that “romantic partners maintain both biased and realistic views of a core relationship trait: physical attractiveness” ( 2014, p. 524).

Solomon & Vazire (2014) found that “romantic partners maintain both biased and realistic views of a core relationship trait: physical attractiveness” (p. 524).

Just as Sherlock Holmes investigates a case, psychologists must evaluate all the available data before making a deduction, lest they jump to an erroneous conclusion on the basis of insufficient evidence (Bram and Peebles, 2014, pp. 32–33).

15

Bram and Peebles (2014) advocated for psychologists to evaluate all the available data before making a deduction, just as Sherlock Holmes investigates a case, lest they jump to an erroneous conclusion on the basis of insufficient evidence (p.p. 32–33).

People planning for retirement need more than just money—they also “need to stockpile their emotional reserves” to ensure they have adequate support from family and friends (Chamberlin, 2014, Para. 1).

Chamberin (2014, paragraph. 1) stated that people planning for retirement need more than just money—they also “need to stockpile their emotional reserves” to ensure they have adequate support from family and friends.

“Behavioral interventions are an important part of helping children with autism (American Psychological Association, n.d.).”

References American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Autism treatment options.

Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/topics/autism/treatment.aspx

Bram, A. D., & Peebles, M. J. (2014). Psychological testing that matters: Creating a road map for effective treatment. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/14340-000 Chamberlin, J. (2014, January). Retiring minds want to know. Monitor on Psychology, 45(1).

Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/01/retiring-minds.aspx

Solomon, B. C., & Vazire, S. (2014). You are so beautiful . . . to me: Seeing beyond biases and achieving accuracy in romantic relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 107, 516–528. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0036899 Herbst, D. M., Griffith, N. R., & Slama, K. M. (2014). Rodeo cowboys: Conforming to mas culine norms and help- seeking behaviors for depression. Journal of Rural Mental Health, 38, 20–35. doi:10.1037/rmh0000008 Herbst, D. M., Griffith, N. R., & Slama, K. M. (2014). Rodeo cowboys: Conforming to mas culine norms and help- seeking behaviors for depression. Journal of Rural Mental Health, 38, 20–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/rmh0000008

16

“Connectors” are vocabulary used to help maintain unity and coherence in writing. They are used to connect ideas, and almost always come at the beginning of a sentence. Students brainstorm vocabulary for the different types of “connectors” in the table below.

Additional evidence

Contrary evidence

Cause and effect

Analysis

Other

The first person is the subjective form of writing. The first person uses “I” and “we” (plural form), as well as “me”, “my” and “our”.

In my opinion...

I think that...

We could benefit from..

Our world is becoming...

The first person is used primarily for auto-biographical writing or memoirs. It is used in academic writing as well, but this is generally from poor practice.

The second person speaks directly to the reader. The second person uses “you” and “your”.

You might think that...

You should act to...

The problem is that it affects your...

The second person is primarily used for personal communications. It can also be appropriate in technical writing, but should be avoided in academic writing.

17

The third person avoids personal pronouns generally.

Ecuadorians believe that...

It is believed that...

Charles Tilly argued...

Global Warming has the potential to affect all countries and people...

The third person is used in academic writing in order to avoid the informality of the first and second person writing tones.

Writing in the Third Person

1. Rewrite the following sentences in the third person.

I think that there are both advantages and disadvantages to corporations. ........................................................................................................................................ .........................................................................................................................................

In my opinion, globalization is a blessing that makes all countries wealthier over time.

If you think about it, the profit motive is what makes capitalism work as an economic system. ........................................................................................................................................ .........................................................................................................................................

I disagree for many reasons with the argument that corporations are a dangerous type of economic organization. ........................................................................................................................................ .........................................................................................................................................

If you think that privatizing all of the forests and lakes would reduce environmental degradation, then you have failed to properly appreciate the risks of privatization. ........................................................................................................................................ .........................................................................................................................................

18

2. Come up with five more example sentences in either the first or second person, and then re-write them in the third person. a. _____________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________ a. _____________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________ a. _____________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________ a. _____________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________ a. _____________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________

Lesson 3.6: Passive and Active voices using complex structures There are two special forms for verbs, called “voices”: 1.

2.

Active voice Passive voice

The active voice is the “normal” voice. This is the voice that we use most of the time. It is generally advisable to use the active voice, especially in academic writing. The benefits of the Active Voice is that it keeps sentences clear and concise. In the active voice, the object receives the action of the verb:

19

Construction of the Active Voice: subject + verb + object

The passive voice is less usual. It is used to change the emphasis of the subjects and objects in sentences. In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb and the main verb is always in its past participle form.

Construction of the Passive Voice: subject + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (past participle) + object

20

Active Voice

Passive Voice

Marilyn mailed the letter.

The letter was mailed by Marilyn.

At each concert, The Beatles played at least one well-known song.

At each concert, at least one well-known song was played by The Beatles.

Charles Dickens wrote many books.

Many books were written by Charles Dickens.

Galileo convincingly argued that the earth circles the sun.

Researchers earlier showed that high stress can cause heart attacks.

It was convincingly argued by Galileo that the earth circles the sun.

It was earlier demonstrated that heart attacks can be caused by high stress.

The Passive Voice can be formed in any tense. The main verb is always the past participle and the auxiliary verb is always “to be.� The auxiliary verb is then conjugated based on the desired tense.

Present Simple: It is made Present Continuous: It is being made Present Perfect: It has been made

21

Examples

22

Active to Passive Voice Practice Convert the following sentences from the active to the passive voice.

1. They make shoes in that factory -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2. People must not leave bicycles in the driveway.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3. They built that skyscraper in 1934.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4. The students will finish the course by July.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5. They are repairing the streets this month.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6. They make these tools of plastic.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7. They have finished the new product design.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8. They were cooking dinner when I arrived.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

23

9. Smithers painted ‘Red Sunset’ in 1986.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10. Did the plan interest you?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11. They had finished the preparations by the time the guests arrived.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12. You should take care when working on electrical equipment.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------13. They are going to perform Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony next weekend.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------14. Someone will speak Japanese at the meeting.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------15. Karen is going to prepare the refreshments.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

24

Active or Passive Voice Quiz Write an A if the sentence is Active; otherwise, write a P

I ate a piece of chocolate cake.........................................................................(

)

The librarian read the book to the students......................................................(

)

The money was stolen. assive .........................................................................(

)

They are paid on Fridays..................................................................................(

)

The movie is being made in Hollywood............................................................(

)

I washed my car three weeks ago....................................................................(

)

His hair was cut by a professional....................................................................(

)

I will introduce you to my boss this week.........................................................(

)

It would have been fixed on the weekend........................................................(

)

The national anthem is being sung by Jason this time.....................................(

)

Source: English Club. (2013). Active or Passive Quiz. Retrieved from http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-voice_quiz.htm

25

Paraphrasing is one’s own wording of the important information and ideas expressed by someone else. It is considered to be a legitimate way to borrow from another source, when accompanied by proper citations.

Why is paraphrasing useful Paraphrasing is better than quoting all information. First, it helps to avoid the overuse of quotations. Second, the mental process used in paraphrasing helps to dissect and understand the meaning of the passage in a better way than mere verbatim repetition.

The original passage: Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final research paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes.

A legitimate paraphrase: In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (citation).

A plagiarized version: Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.

Source: Purdue Online Writing Lab. (2013). Paraphrase: Write it in Your Own Words.

Purdue University.Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/619/1/ 26

Read the five passages below and paraphrase each of them in the space provided. Work individually, then compare with a partner once you have finished.

1. “Few people would declare the year 2012 a disaster. Equally, though, few would declare it a great success either. The global economy slowed during the year, and many companies saw their rate of growth in Asia slow too. But standing on the cusp of 2013, the mood appears to be improving. Respondents to our latest ABOS survey are certainly feeling brighter about the future. At a high level, 47% of executives say their expectations for Asia have improved today compared to a year ago. Only 15% say their expectations have fallen.” ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 2. “Our survey shows that companies are expecting their sales to grow faster in 2013 than they did in 2012. Indeed, for every territory—with the exception of Japan—executives are expecting growth rates to pick up, albeit relatively modestly. Expectations among survey respondents are highest for China. Indeed, one of the broad themes of this report is how important China is to company plans, in spite of the many challenges that respondents say they increasingly face. Not only is it the biggest market in Asia, and the fastest growing, it is also the number one investment destination for companies... For many firms, China is reaching a point where it is being managed separately from the rest of Asia Pacific.” ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 3. “The second fastest growing market for company sales is not India, but South-east Asia.

While India’s economy continues to disappoint, South-east Asia is showing surprising resilience in the face of a relatively soft global economy. The lowest expectations for sales growth are reserved for Australia. The country’s commodity export story has weakened a little as prices for iron ore and coal have fallen. And the domestic economy remains relatively subdued. Investment into the mining sector—a big contributor to recent domestic growth—is falling. And the strong Australian dollar—driven up by commodity exports—is hurting domestic industry, making it cheaper to import goods than to make them locally.”

27

________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 4. “While the growth rates that major multinationals are achieving in their emerging markets might look impressive by global standards (especially relative to a market like Europe), they are not as good as they could or should be. Why might this be the case? It could be that the strength and quality of competition in the markets of Asia Pacific is heating up. Local Asian firms are rising rapidly, and may enjoy domestic advantages, possibly through better cultural understanding, more appropriate business models, better relationships with government, entrenched protectionism, or perhaps less restrictions around how they win new business.” ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 5. “Wages in most parts of Asia Pacific are rising rapidly. Companies can no longer rely on business models built on big pools of cheap labour. Instead, they are investing heavily in capital and technology. Many firms—especially those in manufacturing—are shifting towards greater automation, thereby reducing the need to hire more workers. For instance, Foxconn, the world’s largest maker of electronic components, announced in 2011 that it would deploy as many as one million robots in its Chinese factories by 2013 to do much of the work currently done by human hands.” ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ Source: Economist Corporate Network. (2013). Investing in an Accelerating Asia: Insights from Asia’s business leaders on their outlook for 2013.

Retrieved from http://ftp01.economist.com.hk/ECN_papers/ABOS2013.pdf

28

What is summarizing?

Summarizing is taking larger texts and reducing them to their bare essentials: the main ideas and information that is worth repeating.

How to summarize?

The key to summarizing is taking away extraneous details and examples in order to focus on the most salient points of a text. Find the main ideas and any critical information that supports them.

Techniques for summarizing • Focus on the main ideas • Look for key words and phrases • Simplify the larger ideas • When writing, convey only the essentials • Take concise but complete notes Source: Jones, R. C. (2012, August 26th). Strategies for Reading Comprehension: Summarizing.

ReadingQuest.org. Retrieved from http://www.readingquest.org/strat/summarize.html

29

Read the article below and highlight or underline the most important information. Then, write a summary of the article in the space provided below.

GIVEN the economic growth rates in Asia Pacific, the region is clearly a place of great promise. But which markets and countries are attracting the greatest commitments for new investment? Top of the list of investment priorities is China. (See chart 7.) As the world’s second largest economy, and with growth rates that remain impressive, China’s gravitational pull appears undiminished. Nearly three-quarters of the companies in our survey say they will increase their investment there in 2013.

This is likely driven in part by the increasing geographical diversification of the China opportunity. Production centres are drifting inland, and new markets are rising rapidly in Tier Two, Three and Four cities, most of which lie inland from the established markets of China’s eastern and southern provinces. Foreign firms have many gripes in China, from rapidly rising wages, to entrenched favouritism towards local competitors. But such gripes are not yet translating into reduced appetite for investing there.

After China, investment priorities in this year’s survey diverge slightly from last year. India has traditionally been neck-and-neck with China on the priority list, but this year has fallen back: only 54% of respondents indicate they will increase spending levels there. India’s government has in recent months been applying policy tourniquets to staunch the ebbing economy (particularly around foreign investment legislation), but this may have been too little, too late to sway decision makers at multinational firms in their 2013 planning cycle. , and is barely distinguishable from India in terms of attractiveness. However, while India has been scrambling to make itself more friendly to foreign investors in the second half of 2012, Indonesia is seemingly walking in the opposite direction. Over the course of 2012, the government imposed taxes on the mining sector, proposed limits on foreign ownership in 30

the mining and banking sectors, introduced a raft of minimum wage increases, and dismantled the state regulator for oil and gas production—casting doubt over the status of foreign firms holding oil exploration concessions. All in all, the character of the foreign investment climate in Indonesia has been deteriorating. And yet foreign firms continue to increase their commitment to the country. Given economic growth that is running at a reliable 6% to 7% a year, and a huge domestic population of some 240m, many firms conclude that they simply can’t afford to ignore the country.

Most other South-east Asian countries are also proving to be interesting investment targets.

But two stand out for being somewhat out of favour. The first is the Philippines, which is attracting the lowest amount of new investment of any ASEAN market. This seems surprising given the extent to which the country is performing economically (it was the third fastest-growing economy in Asia in 2012, behind Mongolia and China). Just as important, the president, Benigno Aquino, is making vigorous attempts to dismantle corruption, introduce economic reforms, and improve the business landscape. The country has a world- class business process outsourcing (BPO) industry that is attracting significant investment in back offices and shared service facilities from around the world. However, call centres and the like are relatively capital-light operations (beyond the real estate and telecoms infrastructure). Outside the BPO space, the Philippines has yet to persuade investors that the country is changing for the better.

The second surprise in South-east Asia is Vietnam. Over the past two years, the country ranked just behind the “big three” of China, India and Indonesia, and has long been a favorite antidote to rising manufacturing costs in China. However, Vietnam finds itself dropping to sixth place this year, undoubtedly the result of the government’s mismanagement of the economy. Clients of the Economist Corporate Network complain of a credit crunch which makes working capital problematic, incomplete domestic supply chains which still require importing components and materials from China, troublesome wage inflation, and insufficient road and port infrastructure. While Vietnam does have a lot to offer foreign investors, the story has lost much of its shine, especially as an alternative location to China for manufacturing.

Source: Economist Corporate Network. (2013). Investing in an Accelerating Asia: Insights from Asia’s business leaders on their outlook for 2013. Retrieved from http://ftp01.economist.com.hk/ECN_papers/ABOS2013.pdf

31

References Economist Corporate Network. (2013). Investing in an Accelerating Asia: Insights from Asia’s business leaders on their outlook for 2013. Retrieved from http://ftp01.economist.com.hk/ECN_papers/ABOS2013.pdf Exam English. (2014). TOEFL Reading Test 1, Exam English. Retrieved from http://www.examenglish.com/TOEFL/TOEFL_reading1.htm Exam English. (2014). TOEFL Reading Test 3, Exam English. Retrieved from http://www.examenglish.com/TOEFL/TOEFL_reading 3.htm English Club. (2013). Active or Passive Quiz. Retrieved from http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-voice_quiz.htm Jones, R. C. (2012, August 26th). Strategies for Reading Comprehension: Summarizing.

ReadingQuest.org. Retrieved from http://www.readingquest.org/strat/summarize.html Purdue Online Writing Lab. (2013). Paraphrase: Write it in Your Own Words.

Purdue University. Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/619/1/

32

33

Universidad de las Américas - Ecuador Teléfono: +593 (2) 3981000 Ext: 168

34