How to Say What You Mean Without Confusing, Overlooking, or Offending Your Reader (and Other Easy Tasks) with

Amber CookSenior Writing Specialist**“A what,” you say?

Allow me to explain…

A Specialist’s Perspective

•Ten specialists•300+ papers each week•Best job in the world•But we do start to notice patterns…

A Specialist’s Perspective

#1: Scholarly writingEither:

(a) too informal(a) too informal

or (b) trying too or (b) trying too

hard to be formalhard to be formal

A Specialist’s Perspective

#2: Biased language

Type 1: overlooking folksType 1: overlooking folks

Type 2: offending folksType 2: offending folks

The Plan

•Scholarly language: What and how

•Avoiding bias•Strategies for using sensitive

and inclusive language

Word Choice: What’s the Big Deal?

• Why does it matter so much?

• Isn’t it all subjective anyway?

• Why can’t I just say what I mean?

She’s She’s skeptical→skeptical→

Word Choice: What’s the Big Deal?

Sensitive, unbiased, and scholarly writing:

1. Boosts your 1. Boosts your credibility.credibility.2. Increases the 2. Increases the chances your work will be chances your work will be read and taken seriously.read and taken seriously.

3. Keeps the focus on 3. Keeps the focus on your work.your work.

Scholarly Writing

Scholarly Writing: What

How do we know we’re looking at a

scholarly work?

Scholarly Writing: What

–No mention of Britney Spears

–Wording more specialized/requires previous knowledge

–Presence of original research

Scholarly Writing: What

–Careful citation of sources and presence of bibliography/reference list

–Formal language

Scholarly Writing: Formal Language

•So what exactly is “formal

language,” lady?

Scholarly Writing: Formal Language

• Pronoun use– Is first person OK?

Sure: My workplace is fraught with environmental hazards.

Well, maybe not: I believe that Freud’s theory is stronger

than Adler’s theory.

– Context matters, but Walden and APA approve

Scholarly Writing: Formal Language

• Pronoun use– The editorial we

We often avoid facing traumatic situations.

– See APA p. 39: Avoid it unless you’re specifically talking about yourself and your colleagues

Scholarly Writing: Formal Language

• Pronoun use– Second person pronounsYou must exercise caution when assessing

your own learning.

Never run red lights. (implied “you”)

– Best avoided (whom exactly are you talking to?)

Scholarly Writing: Formal Language

• Contractions– Problem: Casual (better for speech than

writing)The manager couldn’t [should be could not]

figure out how to reach her staff.

Children often can’t [should be cannot] follow a lesson

plan without an occasional snack break.

Scholarly Writing: Formal Language

• Colloquialisms– Problem: Casual, imprecise, not

universal•There are lots of theorists•The team could smell success•She got over it•It was not a big deal•They had seen better days

Scholarly Writing: Formal Language

• Word variety – Problem: repetition can be

distracting and implies a limited vocabulary

•The manager believed that his employees were wasting time looking at match.com and believed that these employees wasted company resources.

HOWEVER…

Scholarly Writing: Formal Language

–Formal writing is NOT:•Stuffy•Unnecessarily complex

•All about big words

Scholarly Writing: Formal Language

Would you rather read:Author A: The individuals utilized their

writing utensils in order to complete the learning tool in the learning institution.

Or

Author B: The students used pencils to fill out the answers on the test at school.

?

Avoiding Bias: What

OK—so what is

bias?

Avoiding Bias: What• According to The Chicago Manual of Style (15th

ed.), biased language is “language that is either sexist or suggestive of other conscious or subconscious prejudices that are not central to the meaning of the work” (p. 233).

Avoiding Bias: What• According to sixth edition of APA:

“Scientific writing must be free of implied or irrelevant evaluation of the…groups being studied” (p. 70).

Avoiding Bias: How

• Stay away from generalizations by avoiding stated or implied “all” or “never” assertions

• Biased:

People from Tennessee are obsessed with

UT football.

Avoiding Bias: How

• Stay away from generalizations:

• Better:

Many Tennesseans are avid fans of UT

football.

Avoiding Bias: How

• Answer the question “says who?”

• Biased:

Third-grade boys are chronically disruptive,

while the girls are always eager to please.

Avoiding Bias: How

• Answer the question “says who?”• Better:

In Clooney’s (2004) study of Kansas City third-graders, 35% of the boys and 68%

of the girls were able to complete

instructions for a tedious assignment without showing signs of agitation.

Avoiding Bias: How

• Be aware of your own biases

–Assumptions about professions–Beliefs about people’s tendencies

–Preference for familiar people/situations

–“Me as the sun” approach

Avoiding Bias: How

•Let your findings speak for themselves

•Mention demographical information only when relevant

•Use sensitive and inclusive language

Sensitive Language: It Ain’t Just for Sissies

Sensitive Language: Basics

•Have you ever been personally offended by something you read?

Why?

ACTIVITY!!!

Activity

Compose a paragraph that describes participants in your study. In this discussion, include relevant details of ethnic identity/race, gender, disability, age, and economic status.

Sensitive Language

•Take a look at APA (sixth edition) pp. 71-76

•Refer to supplement on APA website:

http://www.apastyle.org/manual/supplement/

Sensitive Language: Age

•Avoid open-ended age Avoid open-ended age rankings (e.g., over 65; rankings (e.g., over 65; under 18)under 18)

•Be specific rather than Be specific rather than descriptive, so “The descriptive, so “The participants between ages participants between ages 70 and 84” as opposed to 70 and 84” as opposed to “the elderly participants”“the elderly participants”

Sensitive Language: Gender

•Avoid pronoun pitfallsAvoid pronoun pitfalls

•Watch out for assumptions Watch out for assumptions or gender stereotypingor gender stereotyping

•Keep wording parallel Keep wording parallel (e.g., man and woman (e.g., man and woman rather than woman and boy rather than woman and boy or man and girl)or man and girl)

Sensitive Language: Sexual Orientation

•Note that the terms Note that the terms lesbians/gay menlesbians/gay men are are preferable to preferable to homosexualhomosexual

•Separate the gay or lesbian Separate the gay or lesbian identity from specific sexual identity from specific sexual behaviorsbehaviors

Sensitive Language: Racial or Ethnic Identity

•Stay abreast of changes: Stay abreast of changes: Preferred terminology changes Preferred terminology changes frequentlyfrequently

•Be careful of the words Be careful of the words minorityminority and and diversediverse

•Avoid using one racial group as Avoid using one racial group as the primary group (e.g., non-the primary group (e.g., non-Asian)Asian)

•Be more specific (e.g., Chinese Be more specific (e.g., Chinese American instead of Asian American instead of Asian American)American)

Sensitive Language: Disabilities

• Use “person-first” Use “person-first” languagelanguage

•Avoid loaded wording Avoid loaded wording (e.g., heart attack (e.g., heart attack victimvictim, , sufferingsuffering from Alzheimer’s from Alzheimer’s disease)disease)

•Avoid euphemisms like Avoid euphemisms like challengedchallenged or or specialspecial

Questions?

writingsupport@waldenu.edu(attn: Amber Cook)

http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/http://twitter.com/WUWritingCenter

http://www.waldenwritingcenter.blogspot.com/