LANG 1408 - Academic English for Humanities and Social Science Studies

Your LANG 1408  & 2070 teachers have provided three essay prompts  and some suggested articles you can use to begin reading around the the topics.

General Advice:

1. Think about what  you know  (or think you know) about the issue & try to outline it or mind-map it.

2. Do some background reading (for example, the articles your teachers provided) 

3. List questions & answers you may already have and are developing, along these lines:

• Who
• What
• Where 
• When
• How
• Why

4. Try to make a few clear questions, that are based on some of the ideas (theories, words, methods)  that you have learned in your reading or experience.

5. Try to choose one or more of the questions (not too wide & not too narrow) and start to research to answer it.

6. Be prepared for your question to change.

Based on: "How do I get from a topic to a research question" -  from Cambridge LibAnswers

Action:  Look at the essay prompts and use the worksheet  (based on the general advice above) to generate more questions and answers to investigate before you start to search. Spend at least 5 minutes on it. The bullet point questions can be used as starting points for the worksheet, to help you get a bit more concrete and specific.

Is Generative AI a boon or bane to students?

• What do I mean when I say "generative AI" - am I talking about a particular technology  or do I mean a product (Perplxity, Mid-journey, ChatGPT, Notion, etc.?)

• What do I mean by students?  Primary or Scondary? UG or PG?   In what location (HK or Asia, worldwide?)? In certain disciplines (Business? History? Biology? etc.)?

• What time frame is involved - boon or bane to current students, or in their years after graduation?

• Do I consider students who don't use GenAI as people for whom it is a boon or bane, or only those who use it?

The preservation of minority languages leads to no tangible gain.

• Which minority languages are we considering? French in Canada?  Spanish in the USA? Cebuano in the Philippines? Malayam in India? 

• How will I define a minority language?  Or, do I mean an "endangered" language?  

• Who is doing the preservation: national government, provincial government, city government? Cultural  or ethnic associations? For-profit schools?

• What do I mean by "preservation" - people can talk to their parents or grandparents in their own language? Taught in schools? Used in broadcasting and publishing? Other?

• What do I mean by gain?  More people capable of understanding the language (but with problems in speaking or writing?)?  More people feeling included in society (by what measure?)?  Economic development (by what measure)?

Environmental sustainability is for the privileged.

• What do I mean by environmental sustainability?  People can have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and non-contaminated food to eat? Other?

• What do I mean by privileged? People who live in "rich countries" OECD members?  G20? Upper and middle-income countries?

•  Top 1% of income in a nation? In a city? Top 5%? Top 10%  Anyone with a B.A.? People who have a "white collar" job? 

This section is based on The Craft of Research, Chapter 3, with examples (about bamboo) added by HKUST librarians

3.1 From an interest to a topic: start with what interests YOU. Then ask yourself, what interests me about it? What would interest other people?

Using Library resources, look up background information  to see if the topic is viable, for example:

• Search using the AI Research Assistant in PowerSearch for something like bamboo and symbolism
• Search  Britannica Academic for the terms bamboo and grass
• Explore the internet carefully  by googling bamboo and grass
• Or, ask  Perplexity, "what is the grass" or searching "bamboo and grass".

If you're at a more advanced stage, start looking for  books, book chapters, or articles in magazines, scholarly journals using PowerSearch or  disciplinary databases  like Humanities & Social Sciences.

3.2 From a Broad Topic to a Narrower One:  Try to use action words to make your topic dynamic.

Example:  "Bamboo symbolism in contemporary Chinese art" is static, there's no action, no verb!

Try to restate your topic as a sentence, it may bring your topic closer to something you could try to prove (a "claim").

• Bamboo is an important source of symbolism Chinese  and Vietnamese culture in the 21st century.
• Bamboo is  an important commodity in China and in trade between APEC countries.

3.3 From a Focused Topic to Questions

A common problem is that once your topic is focused and you even have a dynamic question, you may start trying to search exhaustively & get overwhelmed by too much information.  Instead,  formulate more questions that can direct you.  The usual useful questions: who what when and where are good, but also focus on HOW and WHY. The bullet points below provide examples using bamboo.

3.3.1 - What is the history of your topic? What is development of it, its own internal history?

•  How has the depiction of bamboo in art changed over the years?   How has urbanization changed the way everyday people relate to bamboo?

3.3.2 Ask about how it fits into larger systems and structures

• How does bamboo symbolism reflect the values and priorities of different cultures and societies?  What role has it played as a medium of exchange? As a topic of poetry?  What qualities of bamboo are most prized by different people, and in which circumstances?

3.3.3. Ask how is the topic categorized

• How are bamboos categorized by farmers? Wood workers? Calligraphers?  By use? By  appearance? By stories or songs about them? 

3.3.4. Turn positive questions into negative ones

• Why hasn't bamboo and its symbolism not become a typical part of pop songs in Asia?  Why is bamboo symbolism apparently less pervasive in South America (where it is also native)?

3.3.5 Ask What If questions.

• What would Chinese and Vietnamese and Japanese literature be like if there were no bamboo?  How would construction and household good be different without bamboo?

3.3.6 Ask Questions Suggested by Your reading

• Hieu and Poisson (2024) suggest that bamboo flowering is considered inauspicious (bad luck) in Vietnam. Are there similar anxieties in other cultures?  If there are, are they based on similar experiences and reasoning?  Are there any cultures where bamboo flowering is seen as a good luck phenomenon?

3.3.7 Evaluate your questions. 

• Look for questions that prompt you or your audience to think about your topic in new ways.
• Avoid questions that
  • Are "settled" (you can look them up & there is a widely agreed consensus)
  • Answers would be speculative because you don't have resources to conduct a study or experiment. Example: Would mass creation of pop music celebrating bamboo increase its popularity compared to plastic?
  • Answers are dead ends because answers likely not  to create understanding of broader issues. Example: How many bamboo grow on HKUST campus?

3.4  So What?   This is one of the hardest questions to answer about your topic and questions. Would anything be lost (to you, or the world of knowledge) if you don't answer the questions?  One method is to fill in these three blanks & see if they help you figure out why your questions matter.

• I am researching / working on  __________________  
  • What you're researching to share & write about
• Because I want to find out who / what / when / where / whether / why / how ____________
  • What you currently don't know about it
• In order to help my audience (reader) understand ___________________
  • Why you want your audience (reader) to know & care about it

Action: Start to think of a topic that interests you  (doesn't have to be for this course) and try the steps above and see where they lead you.