Make sure a quote captures the intention, not just the words:
As Tollefson (2000) argues, “an international language is needed for worldwide communication” (p. 8)
[Compare original]
“In one view, the growing dominance of English worldwide is the fulfilment of a utopian dream that can be traced back at least as far back as the fifteenth century. In this view, national languages play a crucial role in unifying distinct nations but an international language is needed for worldwide communication among governments.” (Tollefson, 2000 p.8)
Avoid ‘in my opinion’ etc
In my opinion everyone owns English.
In my opinion the missionaries were well meaning but misguided.
It is very wrong to abandon your language for the sake of fitting to the global world.
All references in the text should be in the references at the end, and all references at the end should be in the text.
References should be to something you have read (not to something someone else has read). You can use ‘Kachru (1992; cited in Tollefson, 2000)’ but why not read Kachru anyway? And be careful of what people claim other people said.
All quotes should have a page number
Make sure quotes and references are accurate, and check style
Avoid ‘Research has shown that….’ ‘A study shows that…’ with no ref.
Make sure you use references when necessary: ‘English is used in different ways in the different circles’.
Make sure quotes are relevant; try not to reference for the sake of references; avoid random referencing
‘Many people in Vietnam and Cambodia are now struggling to learn English (Phillipson, 2006). English is also widely used in other parts of the region (Tollefson, 2000).
Do not refer to titles etc in the text (Just use name and date)
‘According to Phillipson’s (1994) article ‘English language spread policy’, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, vol. 107, pp. 7-24), English was deliberately spread.
Do not use footnotes for references
Take care with old references: According to Smith (1983), there are 750 thousand speakers of English in the world today.
Be careful with online resources: Where are they from? How good is this source? How can I use it? Don’t tell me “I googled it”. Is it a blog, a student essay, Wikipedia, an online journal?
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