| German is the third most widely spoken native language (after English and Standard Chinese) of participants at the AOM Meeting. At the 2017 meeting, 723 or 7.8% of the 9,272 participants came from German- speaking countries. Many of the Academy’s native German speakers write in English to submit manuscripts to international conferences and English language journals. Inevitably, non-native speakers of English face additional challenges in the writing and review process compared with native speakers of English. Such challenges include difficulties in adhering to the organizational, grammatical, semantic, and punctuation conventions of the English language and not being able to communicate complex thoughts clearly to reviewers and editors. In particular, German native speakers who write in English often make mistakes rooted in the conventions of German writing that adversely affect grammatical, semantic, stylistic, and punctuation aspects. This workshop is designed for German native speakers who want to improve their English writing skills. In interactive exercises, participants will practice revision techniques that target German language patterns transferred into English. The presenter will offer a deep look at the meaning-bearing aspect of English word order. Keen attention to the primacy of Subject-Verb- Object order in English syntax, especially in longer sentences, enables accurate use of parallel structures and commas and identifies undesirable structures like the passive voice. Participants will learn not only to preempt typical mistakes but also to write effective English sentences and, by extension, purposeful paragraphs and convincing manuscripts that meet the standards of AOM publications. Participants should bring a printout as well as an electronic version of a 3-page sample of their own academic writing which has not been edited by anyone else. |