How to write an abstract

1. Writing an
abstract
in English
Montse Irun
Institut Joan Oró

2. Abstract - definition
An abstract is a short summary of your completed work.
• If done well, it makes the reader want to learn more about
your work.

3. It includes ...
• The problem under investigation (in one sentence if
possible)
• The subjects (including number, type, age and sex)
• The experimental method
• The results
• The conclusions and the implications or applications

5. • Complete — it covers the major parts of the paper
• Concise — it doesn’t contain unnecessary information.
• Clear — it is readable, well organized, and not too
jargon-laden.
• Cohesive — it flows smoothly between the parts.

6. Characteristics
• 1 paragraph
• 100 – 150 words
• Simple past
• 3rd person singular
• No opinion – stick to facts

7. This investigation focuses on two different bilingual
populations: adolescents and adults. The variable of this
research was age when carrying out an oral activity. The
measures used to evaluate this variable were (i) complexity and
(ii) accuracy. An oral description of a picture and a
questionnaire were used to evaluate the participants'
performance. They took the tests twice: one in July and the other
in September. The results of these tests indicated that from the
two groups, adolescents increased their level in most measures
and adults only improved in one of the measures.

8. This study examines 50 undergraduate
international engineering students as writers of
academic texts in English, in a multicultural
setting at the University of Adelaide. An individual
questionnaire and five focus-group interviews
inquiring students about their assumptions,
attitudes and motivations for writing were used to
collect data about their level of metalinguistic
awareness. This demonstrates that the
students’ level of motivation for academic writing
positively correlates with their opinion of
themselves as effective English writers.