英文學術論文寫作中的常見錯誤
發布時間：2017-12-23 21:05:16
英語學術論文寫作是很多大學生（特別是海外學生）需要掌握的一個技能，一篇文筆簡潔優雅的論文對于提高被采納發表的成功率會有很大幫助。但目前的情況是，很多人并沒有受過專門的學術論文寫作訓練，在寫論文時經常會出現各種各樣的語言問題。今天的文章主要談一談英文學術論文寫作中的常見錯誤，希望對你有所幫助。
總體來說，學術論文寫作跟其他類型的英文寫作一樣，都要遵循清晰簡潔的原則，這一原則主要有以下體現：
1.主動語態與被動語態
英文中的主動語態特點是簡潔有力，動作發出者明確，而被動語態特點是較為冗長且有時候看不出動作的發出者是誰（比如Measures should be taken to address this issue. 從這個句子里面我們無法確定應該是誰采取行動）。在學術論文中，很多地方都要明確指出動作的發出主體（比如實驗是誰操作的，數據是誰測量的），且語言要盡可能簡潔。因此，學術論文中應該多使用主動語態。
類似下面的句子：
(1) Consideration of whether countries work well on cross-border issues such as immigration was undertaken by Raul (2007).
(2) Identification of poor food, bad housing, inadequate hygiene, and large families as the major causes of poverty was made by Jones (2005).
應該改為：
(1) Raul (2007) considered whether or not countries work well on cross-border issues such as immigration.
(2) Jones (2005) identified poor food, bad housing, inadequate hygiene, and large families as the major causes of poverty.
那么有沒有需要使用被動語態的情況呢？
有。當我們無法明確動作的發出者，或者需要強調動作本身而不是強調動作發出者的時候，就可以使用被動語態。比如：
(1) Up to 90% of the energy in light bulbs is wasted in the form of heat.
(2) The first edition of Freud’s earliest writings on dreams was published in 1899.
第一個句子里面waste這個動作的發出者無法明確（也沒必要明確），第二個句子里面誰出版了Freud的作品并不重要，因此也沒有必要使用主動語態來說明出版商是誰。
2.比較句
我們知道，在英語比較句中有時候可以省略被比較主體后面的動詞，比如：
On average, men are taller than women are.
可以省略為：
On average, men are taller than women.
但這種省略有時候會造成歧義，舉個例子：
Women prefer friendly doctors more than men do.
如果我們將do省略的話，會變成：
Women prefer friendly doctors more than men.
此時句子會產生歧義，因為它可以有兩種不同的理解：
Women prefer friendly doctors more than men prefer friendly doctors. 女人比男人更喜歡友善的醫生。
Women prefer friendly doctors more than they prefer men. 比起喜歡男人，女人更喜歡友善的醫生。
為了避免歧義，我們應該保持比較句型形式上的完整。類似這樣的句子：
(1) The finance department focuses on profits more than the human resources department.
(2) Country A funds high-tech innovation more than Country B.
應該改為：
(1) The finance department focuses on profits more than the human resources department does.
(2) Country A funds high-tech innovation more than Country B does.
3.使用動詞而不是名詞
英語中動詞通常要比名詞要簡潔，因為名詞本身看不出動作，經常需要額外的動詞去修飾它。比如要表達“做出貢獻”，使用名詞形式我們要說make contributions to，但如果用動詞只需要說contribute，在論文寫作中能使用動詞的場合盡量使用動詞，以保持文章的簡潔。類似下面這樣的句子：
(1) Enumeration of three reasons why the English language has become so important was made by Thompson (2006).
( 2) Discussion of the challenges and strategies for facilitation and promotion of ERP was performed by Smith (2007).
需要改為：
(1) Thompson (2006) enumerated three reasons why the English language has become so important.
(2) Smith (2007) discussed the challenges and strategies for facilitating and promoting ERP.
4.減少there be句型以及it的使用
There be句型可能是中國學生最熟悉的句型之一，但大部分there be句型都不夠簡潔，可以使用其他形式來替換。比如：
There is a necessity for a semi-structured approach to be chosen.
可以改為更加簡潔的版本：
A semi-structured approach must be chosen.
又比如：
There is a need for implementation of the policy on a larger scale by the president of the association.
可以改為：
The association president must implement the policy on a larger scale.
對于形式主語it，我們也可以進行精簡，比如：
(1) It is essential that the model be revised.
(2) It was important for the government to intervene.
可以改為：
(1) The model must be revised.
(2) The government must intervene.
5.Misplaced modifiers
Misplaced modifiers是指將修飾語放在錯誤的地方，從而產生歧義的現象。舉個例子：
I was told that I would be awarded the scholarship by my professor.
這句話因為by my professor這一修飾語放置不當而產生了歧義。它可以理解為“我被我的教授告知我會獲得獎學金”，也可以理解為“我被告知我的教授會授予我獎學金”。避免歧義的方法是調整by my professor的位置，比如：
I was told by my professor that I would be awarded the scholarship.
類似的例子還有：
A team led by Dr. Craig Smith from the University of Hawaii at Manoa found the crabs using a remotely operated submersible.
這句話同樣有歧義，因為using a remotely operated submersible可以理解為螃蟹發出的動作，也可以理解為研究團隊發出的動作。為了避免歧義，句子可以改為：
A team led by Dr. Craig Smith from the University of Hawaii at Manoa used a remotely operated submersible to find the crabs.
6.慎用代名詞
我們有時候會用代名詞來指代前面提到的名詞或是句子成分，但它有個缺點：讀者有時候很難確定代名詞究竟指代哪一部分。學術論文寫作要求清晰嚴謹，因此使用代名詞時一定要謹慎，必要時可以對代名詞進行替換。比如：
A case study approach was chosen; this allowed a closer observation of a single specimen.
句子中this可能指代a case study approach，也可能指代a case study approach was chosen這一整句話，為了使句意清晰，我們可以將句子改為：
A case study approach was chosen to allow a closer observation of a single specimen.
又比如：
X substantially alters Y. This suggests that Y can be modified using the proposed model.
句子可以改為更清晰的版本：
X substantially alters Y. This finding suggests that Y can be modified using the proposed model.
7.避免使用可能會造成性別歧視的代名詞
在使用he, she, his, her, him這類代名詞時，應避免出現只偏袒一方情況，舉個例子：
When a politician campaigns for office, he must spend considerable funds to compete with his opponents.
這里代名詞只提及到了男性一方，為了避免出現性別歧視，我們可以使用名詞和代詞的復數形式：
When politicians campaign for office, they must spend considerable funds to compete with their opponents.
或者將句子中的代名詞去掉：
A politician who campaigns for office must spend considerable funds to compete with opponents.
同時，在使用一些名詞的時候也要注意性別問題，比如要表達“人類”，用humankind會比用mankind好一點，因為mankind帶有一定的性別色彩，一些人會質疑為什么只有mankind而沒有womankind，而使用humankind會顯得公平很多。
thesaurus
mandkind/humandkind people in general. some people think that the word mankind seems to make women seeem uniportant,and prefer to use humankind instead: a scientific advance that has benefited mankind He once said that the invention of television was the greatest single disaster in the history of mankind.
8.逗號問題
雖然逗號看起來是小問題，但還是有不少人會用錯。這里提一個常見的問題：當連詞后面的句子不完整時，連詞前面不能用逗號。舉個例子：
I knew the price of IBM stock would increase after it entered the home computer market, but had no idea that the price would skyrocket.
連詞but后面的部分had no idea that the price would skyrocket不是一個完整的句子，因此but之前不能加逗號。也就是說，上面的寫法是錯誤的。
正確的寫法應該是：
I knew the price of IBM stock would increase after it entered the home computer market but had no idea that the price would skyrocket.
另外，如果連詞后面的部分是一個完整的句子，則建議在連詞前面加逗號，比如：
I knew the price of IBM stock would increase after it entered the home computer market, but I had no idea that the price would skyrocket.
不推薦下面這種寫法：
I knew the price of IBM stock would increase after it entered the home computer market but I had no idea that the price would skyrocket.
除了上面提到的這幾點之外，常見的學術論文寫作問題還有濫用大詞、冗余以及冠詞使用錯誤等，這些問題可以通過查閱詞典和語法書來解決。關于冠詞使用問題可參考文章：英語作文中什么時候需要用the，什么時候不需要？
此外，對于剛開始接觸學術論文寫作的人來說，可以通過閱讀其他優秀論文或者指導書籍來提升自己的寫作能力。我們在谷歌學術或者國際頂級期刊上可以找到很多英語母語者寫的優秀論文，這些論文的用詞和句式都有非常多值得學習的地方。
Papertime論文檢測小編經常與大家分享關于論文寫作等方面的信息~
