Рекомендации по обучению английской письменной научной речи для студентов-историков

А. П. Миньяр-Белоручева 

РЕКОМЕНДАЦИИ ПО ОБУЧЕНИЮ 
АНГЛИЙСКОЙ ПИСЬМЕННОЙ  
НАУЧНОЙ РЕЧИ  
ДЛЯ СТУДЕНТОВ-ИСТОРИКОВ 

Учебное пособие для студентов, обучающихся 
по направлению подготовки «История» 

Москва 
Берлин 
2020 

УДК 811.111(075) 
ББК 81.432.1я73
 
 М62 

Рецензенты 
доктор филологических наук, профессор Т. Н. Хомутова 
доктор филологических наук, профессор В. Н. Шапошников 

Миньяр-Белоручева, А. П. 
М62   Рекомендации по обучению английской письменной 
 научной   речи   для   студентов-историков  :   учебное  
 пособие для студентов, обучающихся по  направлению 
 подготовки «История» / А. П. Миньяр-Белоручева. –  
 Москва ; Берлин : Директ-Медиа, 2020. – 160 с.  

Цель предлагаемого учебного пособия заключается в обучении студентов-историков основам английской письменной 
научной речи. В эпоху развитых международных научных связей 
и неоднозначного толкования истории представляется необходимым научить будущих историков излагать материал письменно. Для этого необходимо проводить поэтапное обучение 
письменной научной речи, которая в настоящее время приобрела определенные традиции. 

ISBN 978-5-4499-0283-2 

Minyar-Belorucheva A. P. 
М62      Strategies for teaching academic essay writing. Textbook for ESP History students. – Moscow: 2020. – 160 p. 
Academic writing is an integral part of English for Academic Purposes in general and English for History Purposes in particular. For 
History students it is essential to learn to write essays in which they 
choose and defend their point of view, compare and contrast a subject, present an argument, persuade an audience. This textbook will 
help students to acquire skills and develop competences necessary 
for essay writing. 

ISBN 978-5-4499-0283-2 
© Миньяр-Белоручева А. П., текст, 2020 
© Издательство «Директ-Медиа», оформление, 2020 

ВВЕДЕНИЕ 

Овладение культурой письменной научной речи 
предполагает знание правил и законов, по которым она 
развивается. Отбор языковых единиц и их функционирование в научной речи обусловлены способом изложения материала. Научное историческое произведение 
представляет собой рассуждение с целью доказательства 
истины, поскольку излагаемые события и факты известны читателям a priori. Научное историческое произведение строится по закону убедительности  рассуждения, 
когда одно утверждение вытекает из другого и готовит к 
восприятию последующего. 
Стилистическая специфика научной речи обусловлена неоднородностью материала. Восприятие научного 
стиля, как некоего континуума происходит благодаря 
качественному преобладанию лексико-стилистических 
единиц, выражающих основные понятия научной категоризации, над их количественным использованием.  
В реальной речевой действительности научный 
стиль представлен множеством  форм, из которых выделяются более дробные виды, имеющие собственные 
традиционно выработанные правила построения. Поскольку дробление на виды и формы происходит в пределах одного функционального научного стиля, то, 
прежде всего, следует обратить внимание на структурно-композиционное оформление научного произведения, целостность построения которого определяется 
логикой  научного мышления. Раскрытие темы имеет 

первостепенное значение для успеха научного произведения. Несмотря на то, что научные исторические произведения 
представляют 
собой 
синтез 
логики 
и 
искусства, в данном пособии основное внимание уделяется формам повествовательного изложения, обучению 
раскрытию темы научной работы и логическому изложению научного материала. 
В данной работы теория подкрепляется практикой: 
наряду с теоретическим изложением материала даются 
упражнения, выполнение которых является к ключом к 
успеху написания реального научного исторического 
произведения. 
 

PART I 
PRELIMINARY STEPS FOR ESSAY WRITING 

Academic writing is an essential segment of English for 
Academic Purposes (EAP) in general and English for History 
students in particular. In their essay History students studying English should articulate their position, uphold their 
viewpoint, compare and contrast the subject matter, put forward an argument, make their statement convincing. History 
students should be taught to write essays as appropriately as 
only possible as essay writing is recognized as one of the key 
processes in acquiring English for History students.  Writing 
essays is not an easy task: any worthwhile piece of work 
demands time and thought. Essays should be proper organized and presented. A History student can save a lot of time 
and effort by having a system of writing an essay.  
 
Unit I. Title 

Essay writing begins with a title. Essays titles are very 
important as they are keys to success. Titles of the essays can 
be general and specific. 
  
§ 1. Here are some general titles. 
 
 The Nature, Object and Purpose of History 
The Role of Religion in Western Europe 
The History of History in Europe 
The Position of a Historian in Society 
Democracy in the United States of America: Past and Present 

Mass Media as the fourth Power 
The Power of Politics: Past and Present 
Current Political Development in Russia and Europe 
Europe on the eve of the First World War 
 
However, these titles are very broad in scope. To be successful History students should write on specific topics. For 
a profound research it is recommended to choose one topic.  
The length of the essay is determined by its title. 
In writing a general title essay History students are required to give some sort of survey of the topic, choose some 
particular aspect of it or deal with it in some detail. 
 
§ 2. Here are some specific titles. 
 
The Effects of Peter I’s Reign 
The Rise and Fall of the British Empire 
Everyday life of an English diplomat in the 17th century 
Causes and Effects of the US Civil War 
US foreign policy during The War of Independence, 1775–
1783 
US Foreign Policy Concept in the 1990s: ideological foundations and priorities 
The End of the Time of Troubles 
US strategy of promoting the development of the failed states, 
2004-2008 
Southern Siberian Shamanism in Russian historiography of 
the 17th-21st centuries 
Prerequisites for Perestroyka in the USSR in 1982-1984 

Military reform issues in social and political life of the Russian 
Federation in the 1990s 
Ethno-trade projects: state-of-the-art and trends in contemporary Russia 
 
To write a specific title essay History students should 
deal in detail with the chosen topic and analyze the issue 
from different aspects. The title of an essay either general or 
specific can be divided into  words or phrases which direct 
students to what they have to do (direction words) and  into 
words or phrases which link the subject of the essay (content 
words). To learn to find words and phrases of both types do 
the following exercise: 
 
Exercise 1.1. Underline direction words and content 
words in the given titles. Match direction words with activity given below. 
 
It should be noted that in a survey various aspects of topics are briefly covered. For a detailed essay only one topic is 
selected. History students should be trained in breaking 
general topics into sub-topics. 
The second exercise concerns breaking general topics 
into some sub-topics within each title. In this exercise students are asked to subdivide one title into two or more subjects. Then they are asked to write down five or six divisions 
of the subjects. 

After the work on the titles of the essay it is necessary to 
proceed to its Body. The organization of materials depends 
upon the involved activities which can be as follows: 
– recounting the events (narrative) 
– comparing and contrasting (comparison) 
– describing an appearance or state of affairs of something (static description) 
– describing actions (process description) 
– explaining how one thing causes another (cause and effect) 
– Putting forward logical, supported arguments, evidence (discussion) 
– illustrating a topic with examples, analogy, etc. (illustration). 
 
Exercise 1.1.1. Below is a list of essay titles. Match activity or  activities given above with the following titles. 
 
Spartan military camp 
Gladiators’ Battles: Sacrifices or Contests 
The Development of the Chartist Movement 
The Origin of American States 
The Revolt of Wyatt Tyler 
Causes and Effects of the Norman Conquest 
Causes and Effects of Kievan Russia Disintegration 
The Origin of the Russian State System and the Norman  
Theory 
Russian-English Ties at the Time of Ivan the Terrible 

Archaeological map of the Palaeolithic sites in the Southern 
Ural  
The imperial cult in the Inca state: a source studies aspect 
 
To understand what each activity means it is necessary 
to study each of them in detail.  
 
 

Unit II. Narrative 

Although narrative is a conventional type of text organization recounting the events in chronological order, in contemporary historical theory it has become the subject of 
intense debate. Within professional historians, the narrative 
is regarded as a form of discourse, which can or cannot be 
used for the representation of historical events. However, 
the narrative can be viewed as an end in itself, or a means to 
some other end. Nevertheless, historians favor the narrative 
when they tell a story and least in the analysis of the historical events. Historical stories are real events; they are not 
constructed but found in the documents. It is the decision of 
a historian how to recount the stories recorded in the primary sources. The form of the narrative adds nothing to the 
content of the representation. It is somewhat a simulacrum 
of the real events. The narration can be part of the historical 
discourse. After the introduction of the subject by means of 
narration, the historian can proceed to the analysis and interpretation of the events. Study the fragment of the historical discourse of this type.  
 
Exercise 1.2.1. Read the text. Prove that it is narrative. 
Write down words or phrases that make this text narrative. 
 
The first English visit to North America remains 
shrouded in mystery. Fishermen working out of Bristol and 
other western English ports may have landed in Nova Scotia 
and Newfoudlands as early as 1480s. John Cabot, a Venetian