Intensive Preparation Program

(IPP)

Course Notes

(Week 1)
2
RESEARCHING YOUR DEGREE AND ANALYSING UNIT OUTLINES
Activity 1: Researching your degree and unit outlines

Go to http://courses.mq.edu.au/international/list/postgraduate to find your degree. Click

on the degree and then click on What you will study to find information about the degree
such as which units (subjects) are required and which are electives. To get a summary of a
unit click on it.

Then look for one or two units that seem interesting to you and find their unit outlines. You
can find unit outlines by going to: unitguides.mq.edu.au/units and then click on the relevant
department. You can download them as PDFs by clicking on the button in the top right hand
corner of the website. Bring them to class to share.

Activity 2: Discussing your degree

Form groups with people doing different degrees and discuss the following questions, using
the information about your degree that you found.

What degree are you going to do? Why did you choose this degree?

How many credit points (cp) do you need?

What are the required (core) units?

Are there any electives?

Which unit looks most interesting to you? Why?

What questions do you have about your future degree?

Now let’s look at the unit outlines you brought in to find out more about what will be
required of you in your future degrees.

Activity 3: Analysing a unit outline

The whole class will analyse a sample unit outline together. Use the table on the following
page to fill in information about this unit.

Activity 4: Examining different unit outlines

Form groups with students who are going to do the same (or a similar) major to you.

Look through the unit outlines that you have brought in. Fill in the table for these unit
outlines.

What conclusions can you draw about what students will be required to do in your future
degree? Be prepared to share some of your findings with the whole class.

3
Activity 5: Comparing unit outlines

For homework, you read the course outline for your current English course. Now, compare
this with the units we analysed in Activity 2.

What sort of content is covered in the university units we examined? How is this similar to
or different from what will be covered in your current English course?

To what extent are the assessment tasks at the university you will attend similar to those in
our current English course?

1. How many of the units examined above have a plagiarism policy?

2. Overall, how will your current English course assist you in preparing for studying at
the university you will attend?

Weekly readings
Unit content
How many Assessment tasks
What is the unit
readings each How many Is there a
Unit name about?
week? assessment tasks are plagiarism
and number What content
How many there? policy?
will you learn
readings in the What are they?
about?
whole course?

4
 WRITING ASSIGNMENTS AT UNIVERSITY
There are a number of faculties that exist on university campuses, and within these there
are various departments. Each department or discipline (e.g. Linguistics, Biological Sciences),
is like a small community, with its own values, way of doing things, concepts, and genres.

Genres are spoken or written texts that serve particular purposes in society and are made
up of a series of stages or parts. Some examples of everyday genres include newspaper
articles and recipes, and some examples of academic genres include research articles and
book reviews.

In order to take part in an academic community, it is important to become familiar with its
culture, and this includes learning about the genres that are common in that community.

DISCUSSION

In a small group, brainstorm some ideas about the kinds of written academic genres
students have to produce at university and complete the list below with your ideas. Two
ideas have been added for you. Then discuss the questions below.

Written academic genres students have to write at university

 research articles
 book reviews





What experience have you had of writing any of these? How are they structured (i.e. what
are their stages/parts)? What is their purpose? Are some more common in certain
disciplines than in others?

PURPOSE AND AUDIENCE OF A RESEARCH ESSAY

[Brick 2006, p. 108]

Discuss the questions below in pairs or small groups and note down your answers.
1. Why do lecturers at university ask their students to write research essays?
2. Who is the audience of a research essay at university? What does that audience want to
see?

5
DESCRIPTIVE AND ANALYTICAL WRITING
[Adapted from: Brick 2006, pp. 20-26]

At university, you may be required to respond in writing to a variety of different question

types, for example in timed short and long answer examinations, and in major assignments
such as research essays and research reports. Some of these questions may require
descriptive answers, some may require analytical answers, and some may require both.
Note, however, that most assignment questions require both. As a result, it is important
that you learn not only how to identify descriptive and analytical questions, but also how to
recognise descriptive and analytical writing and how to write descriptively and analytically.

ACTIVITY: RECOGNISING DESCRIPTIVE AND ANALYTICAL WRITING

Look at Text A and Text B below. Each tells us something about an English language
textbook but they serve different purposes. Which one is describing the textbook? Which
one is analysing or evaluating the textbook?

Text A
While Gateways to Academic Writing has some useful writing advice, such as the concept of
the six-step writing process, it is not the most useful textbook for students within 15-20
weeks of entering an English speaking tertiary level institution. Most of the sample texts are
written in an informal register and are thus unrepresentative of the more sophisticated
academic texts students will encounter at university. Consequently, they may give students
an unrealistic view of what academic writing is, and the kind of writing that is expected of
them. Similarly, the topic suggestions for the writing tasks are also unrepresentative of the
type of subjects students will have to write about at university. In Gateways to Academic
Writing students are asked to write about personal experiences and feelings and to try and
make their writing entertaining. The problem with this is that the purpose of most university
assignments is not to entertain. In fact, according to Horowitz (1996, p. 455), on the whole,
the job of the academic writer "is not to create personal meaning, but to find, organise, and
present data according to fairly explicit instructions".
Another drawback of this book is that...

Text B

Gateways to Academic Writing, written by Meyers and published in 2005, is a textbook

designed for high-intermediate to advanced non-native and native English speaking
students. The book is separated into four units. The first unit, Developing Your Writing Skills,
suggests that good writing is best achieved if undertaken through a process of six steps:
exploring ideas, pre-writing, organising, writing a first draft, revising the draft and producing
a final copy. It further deals with how to plan, draft, revise and edit paragraphs and essays.

The second unit, Writing Types of Paragraphs, is divided into ten chapters, each introducing
a different pattern of exposition, for example, description, compare and contrast and so on.
All ten chapters within this unit are similarly organised into three parts. The first part...

6
 WHAT IS DESCRIPTION?

When we describe something, we generally focus on providing information. Look at Text

B again. It tells us what Gateways to Academic Writing is, who the author is, when it was
published, and who it is designed for. In other words, the information is factual. We can
easily check the facts, for example, we can check that it was published in 2005.

Because it focuses on giving information, descriptive writing usually involves:

 defining
 describing
 summarising
 giving examples
 outlining

WHAT IS ANALYSIS?

When we analyse something, we are generally involved in asking questions about it. We
might want to discuss why something happens, or how important it is. Text A answers the
question, 'How useful is this textbook for EAP students?' and presents reasons to support
the position that the textbook is not so useful. Analysis may involve comparing and
contrasting different ideas or theories or identifying the implications of a statement. It may
also involve establishing the extent to which something is true, or the implications of a
particular idea. Analytical thinking is often described as critical because it involves
evaluating a statement, a claim or a theory. In other words, it requires us to make
judgements about how valid or useful a statement, claim or theory is.

UNDERSTANDING QUESTIONS

When you have to answer a question for a take-home assignment or in an examination, it is

crucial that you are able to identify whether that question requires you to describe or to
analyse, or both. In order to be able to understand what you are expected to do, you need
to be able to:

A. Analyse questions and find synonyms for key terms

It is very important to analyse the question and identify the key words first. Most questions
contain three types of key words:
 Topic words, which tell you what the key concepts and ideas are
 Limiting words, which tell you the specific aspect/s you should focus on
 Instruction words, which tell you what you need to do in relation to the Topic
words and Limiting words

You then need to find synonyms and related terms for key words in the question. To do this,
you may first need to use an English-English dictionary to check the general meaning of
words. However, you will also need to find the specific meaning of these words in your field.

7
You can do this by using specialised dictionaries (hard copy or online dictionaries) in your
field.

It is then a good idea to paraphrase the question, to ensure that you fully understand it.

Example

A student studying Applied Linguistics has the following assignment question:

Evaluate the use of a genre-based approach in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP)
context.

Words in the essay Synonyms/related terms

question
Topic words genre-based text-based
approach methodology/teaching/instruction/pedagogy
Limiting words EAP context academic English/English for specific purposes
Instruction words evaluate describe and judge
describe and decide

The student's paraphrase:

What is a genre-based teaching methodology? Is it a useful teaching methodology to use in

an EAP context?

B Brainstorm the topic and pose related questions

Write down everything you already know about the topic, and prepare a series of questions
about the topic that you will need to answer.

For example, the student studying Applied Linguistics knows the following about her topic:

A genre is a spoken or written text which serves a particular purpose in society and it has
certain stages or parts.

There are various English language teaching methodologies, such as the grammar
translation method and communicative language teaching.

An English for Academic Purposes course is for students who have English as a second
language and want to study at an English speaking tertiary level institution.

And the student has brainstormed some questions about her topic:

What is genre?

What is an approach/methodology?

8
What is the genre-based approach?

What other approaches/methodologies are there besides the genre-based approach?

What is an EAP context?

What skills do EAP students need?

What is the best teaching approach/methodology to use with EAP students?

Is it advisable/possible to only use one type of approach/methodology?

Has any research been done looking at useful approaches/methodologies for an EAP
context?

What are the benefits of using the genre-based approach in an EAP context?

What are the problems associated with using the genre-based approach in an EAP context?

ACTIVITY: ANALYSING QUESTIONS

Below are some examples of examination or assignment questions from a variety of fields.
In a group, for each one, identify:

a) the topic words, limiting words and instruction words

b) what type of answer (i.e. descriptive, analytical or both) is required

1. Management

What are the four major functions of managers?

2. Business

Define the term training and development and explain how training and development
benefit a business and its employees.

3. Accounting

List the main users of accounting information and explain how they use the information in
their decision-making process.

4. Computing

Outline the stages of the software life cycle.

9
5. Applied Linguistics

Analyse the effect of L1 on the acquisition of L2 pronunciation.

NOTE: L1 = the student's first language, or mother tongue; L2 = the student's second
language

6. International Relations

Free trade is essential for international economic growth. Discuss.

7. Environmental Science

Describe, with some actual examples, the environmental problems caused by coal-powered
stations and vehicles. Consider how government and business can best solve these
difficulties.

8. Economics

Can the employment and inflation objectives of macroeconomic policy management be met
simultaneously?

QUESTIONS REQUIRING DESCRIPTIVE ANSWERS

Short answer questions in tests and examinations often need descriptive answers. The
Management one above, for example, merely asks you to list the four functions of a
manager.

There are several question words that usually indicate that a descriptive answer is expected.
The most common are:
 define: give the exact meaning of a term
 describe: give an explanation of something in detail (e.g. its characteristics, how it
works)
 explain: describe features so that they can be easily understood
 identify: state and describe items that belong to a specific category
 illustrate: explain and give examples
 outline: list or describe the most important features
 state: describe precisely the content of a law, theory or concept
 summarise: briefly present all the main points

10
 QUESTIONS REQUIRING ANALYTICAL ANSWERS

Questions which call for longer answers are likely to require analytical answers. For
example, the Economics question asks you to make a judgement. You have to decide
whether an economy can maintain both low inflation and high employment at the same
time. You have three possible ways of replying to this question:

a) Yes, the employment and inflation objectives of macroeconomic policy management can
be met simultaneously.

b) No, the employment and inflation objectives of macroeconomic policy management

cannot be met simultaneously.

c) The employment and inflation objectives of macroeconomic policy management can be

met simultaneously only to a certain extent.

You have to decide which of these three answers you think is most accurate or appropriate
and present evidence to support your answer. If your answer is option c, then you also have
to decide how far the two objectives can be met at the same time.

There are many question words that indicate that an analytical answer is expected. The
most common ones are:
 account for: give the reasons for something
 analyse: identify the components of a concept, theory, or plan and describe the
relationship between them
 apply: show how a theory or research can be used in a particular real-life situation
 compare: identify the similarities and differences between concepts, theories, plans
or objects
 consider: describe and comment on something
 contrast: identify the differences between concepts, theories, plans or objects
 critique/critically analyse: identify the strengths and weaknesses, and importance of
a concept or theory; decide whether a concept, theory, plan or action is valid or
useful
 discuss: identify different approaches to a question or problem and decide which is
most valid or useful
 evaluate: identify the strengths and weaknesses, and importance of a concept or
theory; decide whether a concept, theory, plan or action is valid or useful
 examine: identify the strengths and weaknesses of a concept or theory
 explain: give the reasons for something

HOMEWORK: UNDERSTANDING YOUR RESEARCH ESSAY QUESTION

Having been given your research essay question, analyse it in the same way as the Applied
Linguistics student did above. In your notebook, write down:
 the research essay question
 the topic words and synonyms

11
  the limiting words and synonyms
 the instruction words and synonyms
 a paraphrase of the question
 everything you already know about the topic
 questions about the topic that you will need to answer

Be prepared to share your analysis with a classmate in a later class.

12
STRUCTURING A RESEARCH ESSAY
[Adapted from: Kim & Kim 2005]

Most research essays have the following stages:

 Introduction
 Body
 Conclusion
 Reference List

Let's take a closer look at these stages by looking at excerpts from a research essay written
by a student studying Applied Linguistics

FUNCTION OF AN ESSAY INTRODUCTION

The introduction to an essay has a number of different functions. It:

 introduces the general topic
 provides background information which puts the topic in a broader context
 indicates the importance of an issue
 defines important terms used in the essay
 states what the author will describe/explain/argue (i.e. thesis)
 provides an outline of what is to come

ACTIVITY: ANALYSING AN ESSAY INTRODUCTION

Read the sample research essay introduction below, and in pairs, discuss which parts, listed
above, you can identify.

Learning the process of writing is a difficult skill for students to develop and learn, especially
in EFL contexts where exposure to English is limited. In my teaching context, at a university
in Korea, students experience various difficulties writing in English. They have trouble
carrying their knowledge of grammar into their writing, using language appropriately for
different social purposes, and editing and revising their work. These problems are not
helped by writing teachers who focus largely on teaching decontextualised grammatical
features and who see students as passive learners. Due to this gap between students' needs
and teachers' methodology, the issue becomes how teachers can help students understand
how language is connected to social purpose, how they can help students to focus on the
process of writing, and how they can help students to take a more active role in developing
their writing. Thus, this essay attempts to provide some suggestions as to how these issues
can be improved, especially in the Korean university context. First, I discuss four major
problems of teaching writing in Korea. Second, I review the literature on two major strands
of writing methodology: the process approach and the genre approach. Finally, I argue for
the use of a combination of the two, namely the process genre approach, and provide four
suggestions for how this approach could be used in writing classes in Korea.

13
 FUNCTION OF THE BODY OF AN ESSAY

The body of the essay develops the thesis that was introduced in the introduction. The body
is divided into a number of sections, each section dealing with explaining or supporting part
of the thesis. Each section is composed of one or more paragraphs and needs to be clearly
linked to the overall thesis and outline. The paragraphs within each section also need to be
clearly linked together. Linking each paragraph in a section together, and linking one section
to another, are both usually achieved through the use of topic sentences and cohesive
devices.

ACTIVITY 1: PREDICTING SECTIONS OF THE BODY

In pairs, look at the sample research essay introduction again and predict how many
sections the body of the essay has and what each section is about.

ACTIVITY 2: REVIEWING PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE

In pairs, discuss how body paragraphs are generally structured. What are the three main
parts?

ACTIVITY 3: ORDERING A CUT-UP PARAGRAPH

When you write, it is important that you organise your ideas in well-structured paragraphs.
This will help your audience to understand the point you want to make. To do this, ask
yourself the following questions:
 What general point do I want to make?
 What specific details can I use to support that general point?
 How does each of my sentences link with what I've said before?

Your teacher will give you a cut-up body paragraph from the sample research essay. Work in
pairs to see if you can put it in order. How does each sentence link with what has been said
before?

How does this paragraph relate to the thesis/outline? What section of the body does it
come from?

ACTIVITY 4: LINKING BETWEEN BODY PARAGRAPHS

Below is an excerpt from the body of the sample research essay with four sentences
missing.

Work with a partner to discuss/do the following questions/activities.

1. Skim read the excerpt and identify which section of the body it comes from.
2. Match the missing sentences, A-D below to where they belong in the excerpt, 1-4.
3. How does the writer link the paragraphs in the excerpt together?

14
To encourage more active learner involvement and reduce teachers' workload, Korean
writing teachers should consider using a wider variety of feedback. While feedback is
important for the development of writing skills, there is less certainty about who should give
the feedback, the form it should take, and whether it should focus more on ideas or on
forms (Hyland, 2003, p.
78). 1______________________________________________________________________
_________________.

2 __________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________. It is said to provide a means of both improving writers'
drafts and developing readers' understanding of good writing (Hyland, 2003, p.88). Students
gain the skills necessary to critically analyse and revise their own writing and benefit from
seeing how readers understand their ideas (Leki, 1990, p. 63; Zamel, 1995, p. 174).
Moreover, peer feedback helps learners engage in a discourse community and creates an
authentic social context for interaction and learning (Mittan, 1989, p. 36; Medonca and
Johnson, 1994, p. 754).

3 __________________________________________________________________________
______________________________. One alternative to correcting every grammar error in
their students' writing, is to provide mini-grammar lessons on common errors that most
students make. This not only reduces the teacher's workload, but also, it has been argued
that excessive marking of student errors may actually not be very beneficial. According to
Zamel (1982, p. 201) excessive marking of student errors can have an effect on students
writing and thinking process, making writing only an exercise in practising grammar and
vocabulary rather than a way to discover and express meaning (Zamel, 1982, p. 201).

4__________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________.These face to face conferences supplement the
limitations of one-way written feedback with opportunities for the teacher and student to
negotiate the meaning of a text through dialogue (McCarthey, 1992, p.63). The advantages
for students are that they can be active participants, ask questions, clarify meaning, and
discuss their papers rather than passively accepting advice (Hedge, 1988, p. 210).

A) An alternative to standard written teacher feedback is to have teacher-student

conferences.

B) Moreover, teachers could vary the techniques they use when giving written feedback.

C) Peer feedback was developed from the L1 process approach and has become a significant
alternative to teacher-led forms of feedback in ESL contexts.

D) Thus, it is recommended that teachers try alternatives such as peer feedback, and expand
the ways in which they give feedback.

15
FUNCTION OF AN ESSAY CONCLUSION

The conclusion to an essay generally has two parts.

Part 1: It:
 restates the thesis
 provides a brief summary of the main points/arguments that have been presented in
the body

Part 2: It includes some relevant final comments. These final comments can take various
forms, for example:
 recommendations
 predictions for future developments of the topic
 a mention of further research that might be required
 limitations of the research
 comments on any of the above

Note that conclusions do not present any new material in support of the thesis.

ACTIVITY: ANALYSING AN ESSAY CONCLUSION

Read the sample research essay conclusion below, and in pairs, discuss which parts, listed
above, you can identify.

In conclusion, in EFL contexts, where exposure to English is limited, more effective

approaches to teaching writing are needed. In this essay, it has been argued that the
complementary use of the process and genre approach could be a way of addressing the
gap between students' needs and teachers' methodology. In regards to the heavy emphasis
on grammatical form, a genre-based approach is suggested as it can clarify the link between
linguistic form and function. Additionally, to discourage students' overemphasis on the final
product, the process approach, which encourages editing and rewriting, is suggested. To
help prepare students from different disciplines become more familiar with the academic
cultures and texts of their chosen disciplines, students need to be encouraged to actively
research them. Finally, to help make writing more meaningful, and to help students become
more active learners, the use of diverse types of feedback is suggested. However, as these
teaching methodologies are oriented towards English language education in ESL contexts,
they cannot successfully be applied to EFL contexts without first considering the needs and
goals of students in this context (Holliday, 1994, p.88). Thus, in the Korean context, it is
recommended that before these teaching methods are utilized, Korean educators and the
Korean government need to consider if these methods are suitable to the needs and goals
of students within their social and academic contexts.

16
 FUNCTION OF AN ESSAY REFERENCE LIST

Below is a reduced reference list for the sample research essay.

In pairs discuss the following questions.

1. What is the purpose of a reference list?
2. Do you know what referencing style (e.g. Oxford, Harvard, APA, Vancouver) is used in this
essay?
3. What different types of sources can you identify?
4. How are the entries ordered?

References
Arent, R. (2003). Promoting revision and development in L2 writing through a combination-
based curriculum. The Korea TESOL Journal, 6 (1), 1-26.

Bhatia, V. (1993). Analyzing genre: language use in professional settings. London: Longman.

Chen, Y. (2002). The problem of university EFL writing in Taiwan. The Korean TESOL
Journal, 5 (1), 1-22.

Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and learning in the language classroom. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.

Hyland, K. (2003). Second Language Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Leki, I. (1990). Coaching from the margins: Issues in written response. In B. Kroll
(Eds.), Second language writing: research insights for the classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.

McCarthey, S. J. (1992). The teacher, the author, and the text: variations in form and
content of writing conference. Journal of Reading Behavior, 24 (1), 51-82.

Mendoca, C., & Johnson, K. (1994). Peer review negotiations: revision activities in ESL
writing instruction. TESOL Quarterly, 28 (4), 745-768.

Zamel, V. (1982). Writing: the process of discovering meaning. TESOL Quarterly, 16 (3), 195-
209.

Zamel, V. (1983). The composing processes of advanced ESL students: six case
studies. TESOL Quarterly, 17 (4), 165-187.

17
HOMEWORK: WRITING A PRELIMINARY RESEARCH ESSAY PLAN

After you have analysed your research essay question and begun to find useful sources to
help you answer it, it is helpful to write a preliminary essay plan. Writing a preliminary essay
plan will help you to:
 make sure that you address all parts of the research essay question
 organise the information you want to include
 identify gaps in your research

Below is a sample preliminary essay plan for the research essay we have analysed in this
lesson.

Research essay question: Describe a problem in your teaching context and suggest ways to
address the problem.

Preliminary thesis: In this essay I will describe the major problems with the ways writing is
taught in my teaching context and suggest some ways to improve it.

Body section 1: Description of the problems of teaching writing in my context: heavy focus
on grammar, overemphasis on final product, no input on academic genres/academic culture
of students chosen discipline, only one type of feedback used (written teacher feedback)

Body section 2: Description and evaluation of two ESL approaches to teaching writing:
process approach and genre-based approach

Body section 3: Argue how one or both of these approaches could help improve the
teaching of writing in my teaching context.

18
SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR UNIVERSITY ASSIGNMENTS
TYPES OF SOURCES

ACTIVITY: DISCUSSION

In a small group discuss some possible sources of information you could use for your
research essay (and future university assignments) and complete the list below with your
ideas. One source has been added for you.

Possible sources of information

 course textbooks










Then, discuss the following questions.

1. Which of the sources would be of most help for your research essay?
2. Which would you turn to first?
3. What sort of information would you expect to find in these sources?
4. Which sources are more reliable?

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ACADEMIC SOURCES

[Adapted from: Brick 2006, p. 82]

Below is some detailed information about various suitable academic sources you can use in
university assignments. Read about each one.

Specialised academic books

Specialised academic books are written for an academic or professional audience and deal
with technical or academic topics. You don't usually have to read the whole of an academic
book. Instead, use the chapter headings to select chapters that are relevant to your
assignment and read them. You may also read the introduction because that gives you an
overview of the whole book and helps to put the chapters that you read in context.

19
Edited collections

An edited collection is a book which deals with a specific topic but each chapter is written by
a different person. If you are using an edited collection, you should select the chapter or
chapters that are relevant to your assignment and read them. As with specialised academic
texts, you do not need to read the whole book.

Journal articles

A journal contains articles on specialised academic topics written for academic or

professional audiences. Most journals are published quarterly and because they are
published so frequently, the articles they contain are usually the most up-to-date sources
available.

Research reports

Research reports describe how and why a piece of research was done and discuss the
results and their significance. Most research reports are published in journals.

Official reports

In your academic study, you may be expected to consult reports put out by official bodies,
including government departments and international organisations such as the World
Health Organisation (WHO), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) and the World Bank. Other sources of official reports are non-government
organisations (NG0's), such as the Red Cross and Oxfam. Official reports usually collect data,
analyse problems and present solutions.

20
HOW TO FIND SOURCES OF INFORMATION
ACTIVITY 1: SHARING ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH ESSAY QUESTION

For homework, in an earlier lesson titled 'Descriptive and analytical writing', you had to
analyse your research essay question. Specifically, you had to analyse:
 the topic words and synonyms
 the limiting words and synonyms
 the instruction words and synonyms
 a paraphrase of the question
 everything you already know about the topic
 questions about the topic that you will need to answer

In pairs, share your analysis with each other and give each other any feedback you have.

ACTIVITY 2: DISCUSSION

In a small group discuss how you can find various sources of information (e.g. journal
articles, specialised academic books, specialised dictionaries and encyclopaedias) to use for
your research essay (and future university assignments) and complete the list below with
your ideas. One method has been added for you.

How to find sources for university assignments

 use a university research guide




21
CRITICAL THINKING AT UNIVERSITY

WHAT IS CRITICAL THINKING?

When you are thinking critically, you are thinking actively and not just accepting everything
you see and hear. This means that you are asking questions, evaluating, categorising, and
finding relationships in order to make sense of your own and others’ actions, decisions,
opinions and judgements.

ACTIVITY: 1: CRITICAL THINKING IN DAILY LIFE

We use critical thinking in our daily lives.

 How might we use critical thinking when we buy a mobile phone?
 Can you think of other examples of critical thinking in daily life?

HOMEWORK: READING ABOUT CRITICAL THINKING AT UNIVERSITY

For homework, read the text about critical reading, titled Critical thinking at university and
look at the table titled Critical thinking and learning styles, and do the following activities.

ACTIVITY 1: UNDERSTANDING THE IDEAS

Take notes in your notebook in answer to the following questions. Be ready to share your
answers with your peers.

Critical thinking at university

1. In academic contexts, what is the definition of critical thinking?
2. How does critical thinking relate to academic reading and writing?
3. How can you read critically? In other words, what methods can you use to help yourself
read critically?
4. What are the benefits of writing questions on the academic texts that you read?
5. Look at the section titled 3. Asking 'critical' questions that enable you to 'contextualise'
the text and the writer. Which of these questions do you usually ask when you read
academic texts? Which of these questions seem new to you?
6. What advice would you give to a student who says: "I find it really hard to critically
evaluate. I don't know enough about the topic, so when I read ideas, I don't know the
strengths and weaknesses of these ideas".

Critical thinking and learning styles

Which learning approaches and strategies:
 did you mainly use in your previous studies?
 are you likely to need to use in your future studies?

22
Choose five new words from the reading and/or the table that you wish to look up in your
dictionary (for example, words that are repeated or words that seem important to an
understanding of the reading). Write them in your notebook, taking notes on their meaning
and pronunciation.

Critical thinking at university

Critical thinking is one of the most important skills required at university. You are expected
to evaluate or assess the validity of the information and opinions that you both encounter
(in lectures, readings, and discussions) and produce (in written papers and spoken
discussions or presentations).

Being ‘critical’ at university does not mean that you are only looking for mistakes and
weaknesses. It means judging what is good and what is not, and why.

Because critical thinking involves thoughts and processes that are occurring inside your
head, it is not something that can be easily evaluated by others. It is only when you show
evidence of critical thinking (for example, in an essay or a tutorial discussion) that others can
observe and evaluate evidence of your critical thinking.

How does critical thinking apply to academic reading and writing?

Critical thinking is used when we analyse and evaluate the intellectual work of others in
terms of its strengths and weaknesses/limitations.

Critical reading, then, is an active and engaged process in which you ask questions of a text
and work out what’s good, what’s not, and why regarding that text.

In critical reading, you need to develop your own academic and rational response to an
article/ theory/ chapter through:
 developing an understanding of the content
 evaluating and critiquing the article

Reading and writing are complementary skills: to a certain extent, our ability in the one
influences our ability in the other. Learning to read well (that is, to read critically) is a
necessary component of strong writing. In most university courses, one aspect of the
assessment criteria for written assignments is the ability to demonstrate critical analysis of
readings and theories in your writing.

Strategies for critical reading

Critical reading means that you interact with the text; you become an active and
questioning reader. Following are some suggestions for ways of interacting with a text.

23
1. Annotating/marking the text

Annotating simply means actually writing notes on the text that you are reading. Annotating
is fundamental to critical reading because it allows you to highlight vital information or
important points or questions. Possible annotation techniques are:

 underlining or highlighting key words, phrases or sentences

 writing comments or questions in the margins
 noting anything that strikes you as interesting, important, or questionable.

2. Writing questions

One aspect of annotating the text is to write questions. Writing actual questions in the
margins helps you to understand the ideas in the text, read critically and remember the
content for your exams. Try to write a question in the margin for every relevant paragraph
or section, and try to express the questions in your own words (not just copied from the
text).

Write questions that force you to:

A. Comprehend the reading

B Critically evaluate the reading

Writing questions not only helps you to understand the reading, but also will help you in
your examination revision. Your university courses will allocate core readings for every week
of the program. These readings are usually very important and contain concepts that are
integral to the main aims of the course. The content of these readings will usually be tested
in the end-of-course exam. If you have written questions in the margin of your core
readings, you can easily test your understanding of each reading when it is time to prepare
for your exams. Simply check if you can answer the questions without reading the text. If
you can answer the questions, it means that you probably understand these concepts well.
If you cannot answer the questions, this indicates that you need to revise these concepts
before your exam.

3. Asking 'critical' questions that enable you to 'contextualise' the text and the writer

When you read a reading, you first need to understand what it is actually saying; that is, you
need to comprehend the text. However, when we read critically, we go beyond
comprehension. When we read critically, we remember that every text is written by a
person with a particular view on the topic being written about, and with a particular
purpose in writing about that topic. You need to think about this more in some texts (e.g.
newspaper and magazine articles) than in others.

Reading critically means that you do not simply accept everything you read as true, reliable
or reasonable. Instead, when you read critically, you should question everything that you
read. This is because the writer may deliberately omit facts, or the writer may express facts
or ideas in a particular way, to suit his/her viewpoint. A writer may express an opinion

24
which is biased or illogical but make it sound like a fact. Lastly, the writer may choose words
that make the reader think about the topic in the same way as the writer.

To read critically, you need to put the author and the text into context. To do so, you should
think about the following:

AUTHOR Who is the writer? What organisation(s) does s/he belong to? How might
the writer's identity/organisational affiliation influence what s/he has
written?
AUDIENCE Who is s/he writing for?
STYLE/TONE How does s/he write for that audience?
AUTHOR'S Why did the writer write the text?
PURPOSE
AUTHOR'S What is the writer’s thesis or viewpoint?
THESIS
STRUCTURE How has the writer structured the information?
APPROACH Does the writer reveal a particular bias or ideological orientation? Can
you tell what 'school of thought' (or theoretical or political perspective)
the writer belongs to?
EVIDENCE Does s/he use credible sources and reliable information? Is anything
missing from the arguments in this text?
CURRENCY How current (recent) is the information? Does the publishing date affect
the validity, relevance or significance of the text?
COMPARISON How does this text compare to other articles on this issue?
OVERALL Do I agree with the arguments and reasoning provided in this text?

Students can find it very difficult to critically evaluate the experts. However, one way to do
this is to look for different viewpoints about an issue in your readings. Often, "the different
viewpoints themselves will provide material for your critique" (Craswell 2005, p. 32). In
other words, one author will often explicitly or implicitly critique another author (Craswell
2005, p. 32). You can use the ideas from these critiques in your own writing.

Reference

Craswell, G 2005, Writing for Academic Success: A postgraduate guide, London, Sage
Publications.

Sourced from: Ballard, B and Clanchy, J 1988, Studying in Australia, Longman Cheshire,
Melbourne, p. 27.

25
26
READING A JOURNAL ARTICLE
DISCUSSION

Discuss the questions below in pairs or a small group.

1. What is a journal / journal article?

2. Who reads / writes journal articles? Why?

3. Compare journal articles to textbooks. Which is likely to:

 be more recent?
 provide an extensive coverage of a broader topic?
 focus on a very specific topic?

Journal articles are found in journals, which offer in-depth coverage of a scholarly topic. At
university, you will be expected to read journal articles in addition to textbooks, books and
other sources. Journal articles are good sources to use in university assignments like essays
and reports as they are generally quite reliable and up-to-date.

STRUCTURE OF JOURNAL ARTICLES

Some journal articles consist of a discussion of a certain issue/area in a particular field (e.g.
linguistics) and some report on an empirical study: a study that uses experiment,
observation and experience to get its data. This type of research is known as primary
research.

In regards to structure, the discussion type tends to include:

 a title
 an abstract
 an introduction
 body
 conclusion
 a reference list

The type that reports on an empirical study tends to include:

 a title
 an abstract
 an introduction
 literature review
 methodology
 results
 discussion
 conclusion
 a reference list

27
Note that writers can use variations of these headings depending on the research itself.

In groups, discuss what you think is included in the following sections of a report on an
empirical study:
 literature review
 methodology
 results
 discussion

FRONT PAGES OF JOURNAL ARTICLES

ACTIVITY 1: EXAMINING THE FRONT PAGE OF A JOURNAL ARTICLE

Below is the front page of a journal article from a linguistics journal. Examine it and discuss
the questions below in pairs or small groups.

1. What is the title? What is the main theme/topic?

2. Who is the author? What can we learn about him? Could we contact him? How?

3. What is the name of the journal? What year was it published? On what pages of the
journal can we find the article?

4. Skim the abstract and then answer the following questions:

a) What is the purpose of an abstract?

b) How can abstracts be useful to students who are looking for information for an
assignment?

c) Can you tell what type of journal article it is? In other words, is it a discussion of a certain
issue/subject, or does it report on an empirical study? How do you know?

5. Underneath the abstract there is a heading which says ‘keywords’. What is the purpose of
this section?

28
29
SCANNING A COMPLETE JOURNAL ARTICLE

You teacher will now hand out a complete journal article for you to look at.

ACTIVITY: SCANNING A COMPLETE JOURNAL ARTICLE

Scan the journal article and discuss/do the following questions/activities.

1. How does the front page of this second journal article differ from that of the first journal
article we looked at?

2. Skim through it quickly (in a few seconds) and decide whether this journal article consists
of a discussion of a certain issue/subject, or whether it reports on an empirical study. How
can you tell?

3. Scan the journal article and see if you can find the following main sections of a journal
article which reports on a study. Then match them to their correct purposes on the right.

Sections Purposes

a) Abstract 1)To comment on the findings and summarise the main findings.

b) Introduction 2)To show what sources have been used to write the article.
c) Literature 3) To situate the research in its context and explain its importance to
review the field.

d) Method 4) To report what was found in the data that was collected.
5) To briefly say why the research is important, summarise previous
research, indicate a gap in the previous research, and introduce the
e) Results present research.

f) Discussion and 6) To summarise the sections of the article briefly to provide a

conclusions preview.

g) References 7) To explain how the research was conducted.

30
4. Are there any sections in the table above that are not included in the article? Are there
any sections in the article that are not included in the table?

JOURNAL ARTICLE INTRODUCTIONS

Introductions to journal articles which report on an empirical study typically do four things:

a) introduce the importance of the research area

b) review what other studies have said about this area

c) identify what research still needs to be done, or say why the previous research is
incomplete

d) introduce the purpose of the study

Note that these are the typical sections. There can be variation.

ACTIVITY 1: IDENTIFYING THE PARTS OF A JOURNAL ARTICLE INTRODUCTION

Read through the journal article introduction and answer the following questions.

1. Can you identify any of these four parts? If so, highlight them or draw boxes around
them.

2. Does the introduction contain any content which differs from the four common parts
above? If so, how does it differ?

ACTIVITY 2: PREDICTING THE AIM OF A JOURNAL ARTICLE

In this activity, you will work in groups to predict the aim of a journal article by reading the
first few sentences of a journal article introduction one at a time.

The journal article is from the field of audiology and the title is ‘Hearing-impaired children’s
strategies for managing communication breakdowns’.

31
READING THREE PERSPECTIVES ON FREE TRADE
Below are three sources, which are each excerpted from a longer original text. These
sources present a variety of perspectives about free trade and the current international
trade system.
Read these sources and take notes on the main position (perspective) and key arguments of
each source.

SOURCE 1
International trade is the framework upon which American prosperity rests. Free trade
policies have created a level of competition in today's open market that engenders
continual innovation and leads to better products, better-paying jobs, new markets, and
increased savings and investment. Free trade enables more goods and services to reach
American consumers at lower prices, thereby substantially increasing their standard of
living.
Moreover, the benefits of free trade extend well beyond American households. Free trade
helps to spread the value of freedom, reinforce the rule of law, and foster economic
development in poor countries. The national debate over trade-related issues too often
ignores these important benefits.
The positive effects of an open market are clearly evident in the stellar growth of the U.S.
economy over the past decade. Since 1990, the U.S. economy has grown by more than 23
percent, adding more than $2.1 trillion to the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) and
raising the wealth of the average American consumer by more than $5,500.2 The economy
responded well to the expansion of trade that occurred after the signing of the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993 and the establishment of the World Trade
Organization (WTO) in 1995 as a forum for settling trade disputes. For example:

 Since 1990, imports of real goods and services have increased 115 percent.
 The number of full-time jobs has increased by 13.4 percent since 1991. The share of
the labor force that works part-time because of an inability to find a full-time job is
less than 3 percent.

[Sourced from: Froning, D 2000, 'The Benefits of Free Trade: A Guide for Policymakers',
Backgrounder, no. 1391, 25 August, viewed 24 September 2010,
<http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2000/08/The-Benefits-of-Free-Trade-A-Guide-
For-Policymakers>.]

MAIN POSITION

KEY ARGUMENTS

32
SOURCE 2

Since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed in 1993, the rise in the
U.S. trade deficit with Canada and Mexico through 2002 has caused the displacement of
production that supported 879,280 U.S. jobs. Most of those lost jobs were high-wage
positions in manufacturing industries. The loss of these jobs is just the most visible tip of
NAFTA's impact on the U.S. economy. In fact, NAFTA has also contributed to rising income
inequality, suppressed real wages for production workers, weakened workers' collective
bargaining powers and ability to organize unions, and reduced fringe benefits.
NAFTA is a free trade and investment agreement that provided investors with a unique set
of guarantees designed to stimulate foreign direct investment and the movement of
factories within the hemisphere, especially from the United States to Canada and Mexico.
Furthermore, no protections were contained in the core of the agreement to maintain labor
or environmental standards. As a result, NAFTA tilted the economic playing field in favor of
investors, and against workers and the environment, resulting in a hemispheric "race to the
bottom" in wages and environmental quality.

[Sourced from: Scott, R 2003, 'The high price of 'free' trade: NAFTA's failure has cost the
United States jobs across the nation', Economic Policy Institute Briefing Paper, no. 147, 17
November, viewed 24 September 2010,
<http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/briefingpapers_bp147>.]

MAIN POSITION

KEY ARGUMENTS

33
SOURCE 3

What about globalisation? Our model suggests that, as international trade grows, it should
create a better balance between richer and poorer nations: Western corporations setting up
manufacturing plants in developing nations and exporting their computing and accounting
to places such as India and the Philippines should help wealth flow in to these countries.
But, as Stiglitz notes, Western countries have pushed poor nations to eliminate trade
barriers, while keeping up their own barriers, thus ensuring that they garner a
disproportionate share of the benefits. As the Bouchaud-Mezard model illustrates, free
trade could be a good thing for everyone, but only if it enables wealth to flow in both
directions without bias.

[Sourced from: Buchanan, M 2002, 'The mathematics of inequality', The Australian Financial
Review, September, viewed 27 September, 2010,
<http://www.austms.org.au/Jobs/Library4.html>.]

MAIN POSITION

KEY ARGUMENTS

34
CRITICALLY EVALUATING SOURCE 1 AND 2
In this lesson, we are going to critically evaluate Source 1 and 2.
In the lesson Critical thinking at university, look at the section called "Asking 'critical'
questions that enable you to 'contextualise' the text and writer" from the first text.

ACTIVITY 1: EVALUATING AUTHOR AND APPROACH

We have already considered the author's THESIS (or perspective). Let's now consider
AUTHOR and APPROACH.

Step 1
Look at the reference for Source 1 and for Source 2. Discuss the following with your partner:
AUTHOR: Who is the writer? What organisation(s) does s/he belong to? How might the
writer's identity/organisational affiliation influence what s/he has written?
APPROACH: Does the writer reveal a particular bias or ideological orientation? Can you
tell what 'school of thought' (or theoretical or political perspective) the writer belongs to?
Do you have enough information to fully answer these critical questions about author and
approach? If not, where or how could you obtain more information?

Step 2
Your teacher will help you to do further research so that we can answer the above questions
about author and approach more fully.

Source 1 - Author is Denise Froning. The article was published in some type of journal or
magazine called Backgrounder, apparently by an organisation called Heritage.
Source 2 - Author is Robert Scott. The text is a 'briefing paper' for the Economic Policy
Institute.

We can guess that each source probably originates from the United States, given the lack of
a country code in the website.
We do not have enough information to fully answer the questions about the authors.
However, we can use the internet to search for more information about these two authors
and these two organisations.

35
Source 1
Search in Google for Denise Froning:

Employment History

In 2001, she was a policy analyst with the Center for International Trade and Economics at
The Heritage Foundation.
Trade Policy Analyst, at Center for International Trade

Search in Google for Heritage Foundation:

About

Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institution- a think
tank - whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the
principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American
values, and a strong national defense.
We believe the principles and ideas of the American Founding are worth conserving and
renewing. As policy entrepreneurs, we believe the most effective solutions are consistent
with those ideas and principles. Our vision is to build an America where freedom,
opportunity, prosperity, and civil society flourish.

[Sourced from: Heritage Foundation, 2010, 'About', viewed 27 September, 2010,

<http://www.heritage.org/About>.]

36
Source 2
Search in Google for Robert E. Scott: (Note: There are many people of the same name;
careful reading of the search results reveals an economist with the Economic Policy
Institute)

ROBERT E. SCOTT

Senior International Economist and Director of International Programs

Areas of expertise
International economics • Trade agreements • Global finance • Economic impacts of foreign
investment and "insourcing" • Industry studies
Biography
Dr. Scott joined the Economic Policy Institute as an international economist in 1996. Before
that, he was an assistant professor with the College of Business and Management of the
University of Maryland at College Park. His areas of research include international
economics and trade agreements and their impacts on working people in the U.S. and other
countries, the economic impacts of foreign investment, and the macroeconomic effects of
trade and capital flows. His research has been published in The Journal of Policy Analysis
and Management, The International Review of Applied Economics, and The Stanford Law
and Policy Review, and he has written editorial pieces for The Los Angeles Times, Newsday,
USA Today, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Times, and other newspapers.
B.S. Engineering, Washington University (St. Louis), 1975

[Sourced from: Economic Policy Institute 2010, 'Experts, economists and researchers,
viewed 24 September, <http://www.epi.org/pages/economist/>.]

Search in Google for Economic Policy Institute:

Note that the organisation's full name is: Economic Policy Institute: Research and ideas for
shared prosperity
The Economic Policy Institute, a non-profit Washington D.C. think tank, was created in 1986
to broaden the discussion about economic policy to include the interests of low- and
middle-income workers. Today, with global competition expanding, wage inequality rising,
and the methods and nature of work changing in fundamental ways, it is as crucial as ever
that people who work for a living have a voice in the economic discourse.

[Source: Economic Policy Institute 2010, 'About the Economic Policy Institute', viewed 24
September, <http://www.epi.org/pages/about_the_economic_policy_institute/>.]

37
MODEL CRITICAL PARAGRAPH
Critical reading is an important aspect of your university study. You will be required to read
and respond analytically to a wide range of books and articles. Responding critically involves
you participating in the ongoing academic debate on an issue. Often, you can use the work
of other writers as a source of ideas to use to analyse and critique a reading. In this lesson,
we will analyse a model paragraph which provides a good example of how to do this.

How to express a critique

A difficulty students often encounter is what to critique, and how to appropriately express
their critical evaluation in academic writing. Academic writers do express their position; that
is, they express their critical evaluation. However, academic writers rarely write 'In my
opinion' or 'I agree with X'. So, how do we express our critical evaluation appropriately in
academic writing? Let's look at how a student does this well in the model paragraph.

ACTIVITY: ANALYSING HOW THE STUDENT EXPRESSES HER CRITIQUE

Read the student's paragraph and answer the following questions.
1. What is the student's overall critical evaluation of Froning's arguments?
2. Which of Froning's arguments does the student:
 positively evaluate?
 negatively evaluate?

3. How does the student show us that she agrees/disagrees with Froning? How does
she use:
 ideas from Scott to refute Froning?
 evaluative language to show that she agrees/disagrees with Froning?

MODEL CRITICAL PARAGRAPH

In her article, Froning (2000) presents an overly optimistic assessment of how free trade and
its associated structures such as NAFTA have benefited the United States economy and
employment. It is generally true that free trade has resulted in increased competition and
the availability of new markets, which in turn have led to significant growth in the US
economy (Froning 2000, para. 1, 3). In terms of benefits for employees, Froning (2000, para.
3) explains that free trade has resulted in increases in job numbers, pointing to statistics
showing an overall increase in full-time employment. She also argues that free trade has led
to employees having “better-paying jobs” (para. 1). However, this is disputed by Scott (2003,
para. 1), who points to “rising income inequality [and] suppressed real wages”. Scott (2003,
para. 2) also explains how free trade agreements may lead to significant disadvantages for
employees in terms of protection of labour standards and employee rights, issues which
Froning fails to recognise. Thus, although Froning correctly argues that free trade may
benefit the American economy in general, she does not adequately analyse the effects of
free trade on employment conditions.

38
References
Froning, D 2000, 'The Benefits of Free Trade: A Guide for Policymakers', Backgrounder , no.
1391, 25 August, viewed 24 September 2010, <
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2000/08/The-Benefits-of-Free-Trade-A-Guide-
For-Policymak e rs >.

Scott, R 2003, 'The high price of 'free' trade: NAFTA's failure has cost the United States jobs
across the nation', Economic Policy Institute Briefing Paper , no. 147, 17 November, viewed
24 September 2010, < http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/briefingpapers_bp147 >.

ACTIVITY: ANALYSING HOW TO EFFECTIVELY STRUCTURE A PARAGRAPH

Re-read the model paragraph. Analyse the following:

Topic sentence
 Is it effective? Why?/How does it introduce the paragraph?

Supporting sentences
 Do they follow the order suggested by the topic sentence?
 How does the writer use linking words (such as firstly, however, therefore, in terms
of) to help us follow her structure?
 Do they support the topic sentence?

Concluding sentence
 Is there a concluding sentence?
 Is it effective? Why?

39
Activity 1: Labelling aspects of referencing

Identify the following aspects of referencing:

1. in-text citations

2. author's surname

3. year the book/article was published

4. paragraph number in the book or article

5. brackets

6. direct quotation

7. quotation marks

8. paraphrase

9. end of text references (reference list)

40
Intensive Preparation Program
(IPP)

Course Notes

(Week 2)

41
42
CLAUSE AND SENTENCE TYPES

[Adapted from: Oshima and Hogue 2006, pp. 162-4]

Developing skill in clause and sentence structure can benefit both your academic reading
and writing. It can help you to understand what you read, particularly in complex
sentences, and can also help you to identify main ideas. Developing greater skill in clause
and sentence structure can also aid your writing skills, both in terms of the complexity and
the accuracy of your writing.

CLAUSES

What is a clause?

Clauses are the building blocks of sentences. A clause is a group of words that contains at
least a subject and a finite verb (that is, a verb which agrees with its subject and has a
tense).

For example,

…the number of full-time jobs has increased by 13.4% since 1991...

Identify the subject and verb in the above clause. What other parts of the clause can you
identify?

ACTIVITY 1: IDENTIFYING CLAUSES

Are these clauses? If not, what are they? (e.g. a prepositional phrase, a noun phrase, a verb
etc.)
 …the US economy has grown by more than 23 percent...
 …to stimulate foreign direct investment...
 …thereby substantially increasing their standard of living...
 …the rise in the US trade deficit with Canada and Mexico through 2002...
 …since 1990...
 ...as international trade grows...

TWO TYPES OF CLAUSES

There are two types of clauses: independent clauses and dependent clauses.

Independent clause

An independent clause has a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought. It can
stand alone as a sentence.

43
For example,

The number of full-time jobs has increased by 13.4% since 1991.

Dependent clause

A dependent clause begins with a subordinator (for example, as), and then has a subject
and a verb. A dependent clause cannot stand alone as a sentence.

For example,

…as international trade grows...

There are three kinds of dependent clauses: adverb clauses, adjective clauses (also called a
relative clause), and noun clauses. We will examine these in detail later.

As mentioned above, a dependent clause begins with a subordinator. The following table
shows a few of the most common subordinators (we will see a more complete list later).

Table 1: Common Subordinators

after how unless whereas

although if until whether
as since what which
because so that when while
before that whenever who
even though though where whose

ACTIVITY 2: DIFFERENTIATING BETWEEN INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT CLAUSES

Look at the following clauses. Identify each component in the clause (subject, verb,
subordinator, prepositional phrase, etc). Decide whether each clause is an independent
clause or a dependent clause.

1. ...the benefits of free trade extend well beyond American households...

2. ...since 1990, the US economy has grown by more than 23 percent...

3. ...that works part-time...

4. ...upon which American prosperity rests...
5. ...furthermore, no protections were contained in the core of the agreement...
6. ...if it enables wealth to flow in both directions...

44
 SENTENCES

1. Simple sentences

2. Complex sentences

3. Compound sentences

4. Compound-complex sentences

In this lesson, we will learn about the first two types of sentences (simple sentences and
complex sentences). In a later lesson, we will learn about the last two types.

1. Simple Sentences

A simple sentence is one independent clause.

For example,

The number of full-time jobs has increased by 13.4% since 1991.

2. Complex Sentences

A complex sentence contains one independent clause and one or more dependent
clauses. In a complex sentence, one idea is generally more important, or closer to the
writer’s own opinion, than the other. We usually place the more important idea in the
independent clause and the less important idea in the dependent clause.

There are three kinds of dependent clauses:

 adverb clause
 adjective clause (also called a relative clause)
 noun clause

A. A dependent adverb clause begins with an adverbial subordinator such as when, while,
because, although, as and if.

The adverb clause can come before or after the independent clause in the sentence. If the
adverb clause comes before the independent clause, it must be followed by a comma.

For example,

Because production moved from the US to Mexico, many American workers lost jobs.

Many American workers lost jobs because production moved from the US to Mexico.

45
B. A dependent adjective (relative) clause begins with a relative pronoun such as who,
which, that, or whose.

An adjective clause functions as an adjective; that is, it modifies a noun or pronoun.

For example,

Free trade offers many benefits to consumers who live in developed countries.

The North American Free Trade Agreement, which was signed by Canada, Mexico and the
US, came into force on January 1, 1994.

The share of the labour force that works part-time is less than 3 percent.

C. A dependent noun clause functions as a noun and begins with a wh-question word, that,
whether, or if.

A dependent noun clause can be either a subject or an object. No commas are necessary.

For example,

Whether free trade benefits the poor is an issue for ongoing debate.

Our model suggests that international trade should create a better balance between rich
and poor nations.

Activity: Identifying clause and sentence types

Let's analyse some sentences from Source 1 and Source 2.

Half the class will analyse the sentences in Source 1 (see below); the other half will analyse
the sentences from Source 2 (see below).
 For each sentence, your group should:
 Underline the independent clause.
 Draw a broken line under any dependent clauses, and put a box around the
subordinator.
 Decide what type of dependent clause it is.
 What type of sentence is each? Is it a simple sentence or a complex sentence?

Be ready to share your answers with the class.

46
Source 1 (Froning 2000)
Free trade policies have created a level of competition in today's open market that
engenders continual innovation and leads to better products, better-paying jobs, new
markets, and increased savings and investment. The economy responded well to the
expansion of trade that occurred after the signing of the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993 and the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
in 1995 as a forum for settling trade disputes.

Source 2 (Scott 2003)

Since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed in 1993, the rise in the
U.S. trade deficit with Canada and Mexico through 2002 has caused the displacement of
production that supported 879,280 U.S. jobs. Most of those lost jobs were high-wage
positions in manufacturing industries.

LIST OF SUBORDINATORS

A subordinator is the first word in a dependent clause. Common subordinators include the
following. Look through this table for homework.

SUBORDINATORS FOR ADVERB CLAUSES

Time (When?)
after After we ate lunch, we decided to go shopping.
as, just as As I got ready to go, I made a shopping list in my
mind.
Just as we left the house, it started to rain.
as long as We waited as long as we could.
as soon as As soon as the front door closed, I looked for my
house key.
before I thought I had put it in my coat pocket before we
left.
since I have not locked myself out of the house since I was
10 years old.

until Until I was almost 12, my mother pinned the key to

my coat.
when When I turned 12, my mother let me keep the key in
my pocket.
whenever I usually put the key in the same place whenever I
come home.
while While I searched for the key, it rained harder and

47
 harder.
Place (Where?)
where I like to shop where prices are low.
wherever I try to shop wherever there is a sale.
anywhere You can find bargains anywhere you shop.
everywhere I use my credit card everywhere I shop.
Manner (How?)
as, just as, I love to get flowers as most women do.
as if You look as if you didn't sleep at all last night.
as though She acts as though she doesn't know us.
Distance (How far? How near?
How close?)
as + adverb + as We will hike as far as we can before it turns dark.
The child sat as close as she could to her mother.
The child sat as close to her mother as she could.
Frequency (How often?)
as often as I call my parents as often as I can.

Reason (Why?)
I can't take evening classes(,) as I work at night.
as I can't take evening classes(,) because I work at night.
because I can't take evening classes(,) since I work at night.
since
Purpose (For what purpose?)
so that Many people emigrate so that their children can
in order that have a better life.
Many people emigrate in order that their children can
have a better life.
Result (With what result?)
so + adjective + that I was so tired last night that I fell asleep at dinner.
so + adverb + that She talks so softly that the other students cannot hear
such a(n) + noun + that her.
so much/many/ It was such an easy test that most of the students got
little/few + As.
noun + that He is taking so many classes that he has no time to
sleep.
Condition (Under what

48
condition?)
if We will not go to the beach if it rains.
unless We will go to the beach unless it rains.
Partial
contrast
although I love my brother although we disagree about almost
even though everything.
though I love my brother even though we disagree about
almost everything.
I love my brother though we disagree about almost
everything.
Contrast (Direct opposites)
while My brother likes classical music, while I prefer hard
whereas rock.
He dresses conservatively, whereas I like to be a little
shocking.

SUBORDINATORS FOR ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

To refer to people
who, whom, whose, My parents, who are lawyers, expected us to become
that (informal) lawyers too.
People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
My parents did not approve of the
man who/whom/that my sister married.
An orphan is a child whose parents are dead.
To refer to animals and
things
which My new computer, which I bought yesterday, stopped
that working today.
Yesterday I received an e-mail that I did not understand.
To refer to a time or a place
when Christmas is a time when families travel great distances to
where be together.
An orphanage is a place where orphans live.

49
SUBORDINATORS FOR NOUN CLAUSES
That Clauses
that Do you believe that there is life in outer space?
If/Whether Clauses
whether I can't remember whether I locked the door.
whether or not I can't remember whether or not I locked the
whether.., or not door.
if I can't remember whether I locked the door or
if. ... or not not.
I can't remember if I locked the door.
I can't remember if I locked the door or not.
Question Clauses
who, whoever, whom Whoever arrives at the bus station first should
which, what, where buy the tickets.
when, why, how Do you know where the bus station is?
how much, how many how long, how We should ask when the bus arrives.
often, etc. Do not worry about how much they cost.
He didn't care how long he had to wait.

Notice that some subordinating conjunctions can introduce different kinds of dependent
clauses. That can introduce either noun clauses or adjective clauses, and where can
introduce a noun, an adjective, or an adverb clause.

[Adapted from: Oshima, A and Hogue, A 2006, Writing Academic English, Pearson
Education, White Plains, New York, pp. 292-295.]

50
USING SOURCES APPROPRIATELY
Much of your written work at university is based on the ideas of other writers. Whenever
you take something from another author (e.g. an author’s theory, opinion, idea, example,
conclusion, or findings), you must say who you took it from, and where the original can be
found. In other words, you must acknowledge and cite your sources.

In this lesson, we will analyse the model critical paragraph more closely to see how to use
in-text citations appropriately in academic writing. In a later lesson, we will examine how to
write a reference list.

In-text citations

Every time you use the ideas or words from another writer, you must provide an in-text
citation in that sentence.

ACTIVITY 1: ANALYSING THE MODEL ESSAY

Discuss the following questions with your group:

1. How often does the student use in-text citations in the model paragraph? Why?
(That is, why does the student writer continue to refer to the sources?).
2. What three elements does each in-text citation include?
3. When is it possible to omit one or more of the three elements in the in-text citation?

ACTIVITY 2: EXAMPLES OF IN-TEXT CITATION STYLES

Look at the following sentences, which show three common ways that academic writers
include an in-text citation. How is the punctuation and the grammar different in each?

1. Froning (2000, para. 3) explains that free trade has resulted in increases in job numbers.

2. It has been claimed that free trade has resulted in increases in job numbers (Froning
2000, para. 3).

3. According to Froning (2000, para. 3), free trade has resulted in increases in job numbers.

Why acknowledge your sources?

Read the following list of reasons why academic writers acknowledge their sources.
1. to show that you have read and understood the research published in your area of
interest
2. to lend authority to what you are writing
3. to support your own ideas and strengthen your argument
4. to acknowledge the scholarship of others
5. to avoid plagiarism

51
Discuss with your group:
 Which reasons are most relevant to you now?
 Are there any reasons which you have not considered before?

Should I paraphrase or use direct quotations

When academic writers paraphrase, they use their own words to explain the ideas of
another writer. In contrast, when academic writers use a direct quotation, they use the
exact words of the writer.

How often should we paraphrase and/or use direct quotations? To answer this question, it
is important to realise that paraphrasing is very respected and highly valued in English-
speaking academic cultures. Thus, in English-speaking academic contexts, academic writers
usually use paraphrase, and only occasionally use direct quotations. When they do use
quotations, the quotation is usually only fairly short; it is unusual for the quotation to be a
whole sentence. If you use too many direct quotations in academic writing, this may be
considered a form of plagiarism.
ACTIVITY: DISCUSSION ABOUT PARAPHRASE AND DIRECT QUOTATIONS

1. Look at the model paragraph. How often does it use

a. paraphrase?
b. direct quotation?
2. Why do you think paraphrasing is so highly valued in English-speaking academic
culture?
3. What about in other academic cultures you have experienced? Is paraphrasing or
direct quotation more valued? Why do you think this is?

How to use direct quotations

Here are some guidelines for using direct quotations:

1. Always use quotation marks around a direct quotation (use double quotation marks if
you're using the Harvard referencing system).

2. For any direct quotation, provide the full in-text citation [surname, year and page (or
paragraph) number].

3. Generally, use a short quotation rather than a long one.

4. Integrate the direct quotation into the grammar of your own sentence. That is, ensure
that your sentence will remain grammatically correct.

5. Quote the original writer's words exactly. You must not change any words. Sometimes,
however, we may need to omit words, or to change words (for example, to make the
original meaning clear to the reader, or to make the grammar of your sentence correct). In
these situations, you must clearly show where you have omitted words or made changes:

52
  If you omit words, use three dots: ...
 ORIGINAL (from Froning 2000, para. 1): Free trade policies have created a level of
competition in today's open market that engenders continual innovation and leads
to better products, better-paying jobs, new markets, and increased savings and
investment.
 DIRECT QUOTATION: Froning (2000, para. 1) argues that free trade has led to "better
products, ... new markets, and increased savings and investment".
 If you change or add words, use square brackets [ ]
 ORIGINAL (from Scott 2003, para. 1): In fact, NAFTA has also contributed to rising
income inequality, suppressed real wages for production workers, weakened
workers' collective bargaining powers and ability to organize unions, and reduced
fringe benefits.
 DIRECT QUOTATION: However, this is disputed by Scott (2003, para. 1), who points
to "rising income inequality [and] suppressed real wages".

How to paraphrase

When you paraphrase, you use your own words, but you must not change the meaning of
the original. If you only change some of the vocabulary in the original text, you are still
plagiarising. Writing in your own words requires you to make a number of vocabulary,
grammar and sentence structure changes.

Thus, when you paraphrase, you:

 should NOT change
o the meaning (you must show what the original writer meant)
o specialised jargon words and phrases e.g. World Trade Organisation; international
law
 SHOULD change:
o everyday words (you should use synonyms for these) e.g. change follow a
law to adhere to a law
o the grammar of the sentence, for example:
 re-organise the information/ideas in the original
 change active voice verbs to passive voice verbs (or vice versa), for example:
 ORIGINAL (from Wilson 2007, p. 43): All countries must follow international law.
 PARAPHRASE: International law must be adhered to by every nation (Wilson 2007,
p.43).
 change word class (for example, change a verb to a noun), for example:
 ORIGINAL (from Wilson 2007, p. 43): Countries may simply adopt the tariff
regulations of an influential trading partner.
 PARAPHRASE: The adoption of the tariff rules of a powerful trading partner is
preferred by some states (Wilson 2007, p.43).

53
A good paraphrase

Look at the original from Froning (below), and then compare it with the example of a good
paraphrase from the model paragraph. Discuss the following questions with your group:
1. What has the student kept the same? Consider:
1. meaning
2. specialised language
2. What has the student changed? Consider:
1. everyday words
2. sentence structure
3. word class
3. Is the in-text citation accurate?

ORIGINAL (from Froning 2000, para. 3):

The economy responded well to the expansion of trade that occurred after the signing of
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the establishment of the World Trade
Organization (WTO) as a forum for settling trade disputes. For example:
 The number of full-time jobs has increased by 13.4 percent since 1991.

PARAPHRASE:

In terms of benefits for employees, Froning (2000, para. 3) explains that free trade has
resulted in increases in job numbers, pointing to statistics showing an overall increase in
full-time employment.

A poor paraphrase

Now, analyse the example of a poor paraphrase. With your group, evaluate this paraphrase.
What grade would you give it if you were the lecturer?!

ORIGINAL (from Froning 2000, para. 3):

The economy responded well to the expansion of trade that occurred after the signing of
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the establishment of the World Trade
Organization (WTO) as a forum for settling trade disputes. For example:
 The number of full-time jobs has increased by 13.4 percent since 1991.

PARAPHRASE:

The American economy responded positively to the increased trade that occurred after the
signing of NAFTA; for example, the number of full-time jobs increased by 13.4% between
1991 and 2000 (Denise Froning).

54
Reporting verbs

In using a reporting verb to present other writers’ ideas, it is important that you are
accurate in the context and communicate to the reader your assessment of the author’s
position, theory or research.

Academic writers tend to use a variety of reporting verbs. The following list provides some
alternative expressions for common reporting verbs, but be careful as they are often not
precisely the same in meaning.

Learning reporting verbs is not an easy task. You will need to look up these reporting verbs
in your dictionary to check their meanings. When you read academic texts in future, you
should also try to analyse when and why an academic writer chooses a particular reporting
verb.

VERB POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVES

show demonstrate, establish
persuade assure, convince
argue reason, claim
propose advance, propound, suggest
advise suggest, recommend, advocate
believe hold/profess (the view) that …
emphasise stress, highlight, underscore
state explain, comment, remark, report
examine explore, investigate, analyse
evaluate appraise, assess
hypothesise speculate, postulate
claim allege, assert, contend, maintain
support advocate
disagree dispute, contradict
reject refute, repudiate, dismiss

Some reporting verbs are more commonly used than others. Although this does vary from
discipline to discipline, the most commonly used verbs include: describe, find, argue,
explain.

55
ACTIVITY: ANALYSING THE MODEL PARAGRAPH

1. How many different reporting verbs does the student use in the model paragraph?
2. Which of the most commonly used verbs (describe, find, argue, explain) does the
student use?

Paraphrase practice

With your class, practise paraphrasing the following sentence. Write the paraphrase in your
notebook.

ORIGINAL (from Ian McPherson 2005, p. 56)

Subsidies are money paid to domestic producers so that they can sell their goods more
cheaply than foreign competitors.

Some possible ways to start your sentence include:

Governments pay...

A subsidy is defined as...

HOMEWORK: WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?

It is important to know what plagiarism is and how to avoid it. For homework:
1. Read the plagiarism policy your teacher will give you.
2. Do the ELC Online activity titled What is plagiarism?

HOMEWORK: PRACTICE USING SOURCES

Do the ELC Online activity titled Practice using sources.

56
ADJECTIVE CLAUSES
As we have learned, an adjective clause (also called a relative clause) is a dependent clause
that functions as an adjective. It provides more information about a noun or pronoun. In
this lesson, we will deepen and develop your understanding and use of adjective clauses.

For this lesson, you should work through these pages in your student notes and at the same
time do the ELC Online activity named Adjective Clauses. The ELC Online Adjective
Clauses provides answers to all these activities, except for the last activity, which your
teacher will provide feedback on in class). After you check your answers on ELC Online,
ensure that you record all the correct answers in these student notes.

Relative pronouns and adverbs

A relative clause begins with a relative pronoun or relative adverb.

who, that replaces a noun that is a person

Relative pronouns
whose replaces his/her/their
which, that replaces a noun that is a thing/animal
Relative pronouns
whose replaces his/her/its/their

Relative adverbs* when, where refer to a time or a place

For example,

Free trade offers many benefits to consumers who live in developed countries.

The North American Free Trade Agreement, which was signed by Canada, Mexico and the
US, came into force on January 1, 1994.

The share of the labour force that works part-time is less than 3 percent.

The International Monetary Fund, whose policies support free trade, benefits developed
countries more than developing countries.

The company moved its production facilities to a developing country, where it can pay lower
wages to the workers.

2001 was the year when China joined the World Trade Organisation.

* Relative adverbs are used in the same way as preposition + which.

57
The company moved its production facilities to a developing country, where it can pay lower
wages to the workers. (= a developing country, in which it can...)

2001 was the year when China joined the World Trade Organisation. (= was the year in
which China joined...)

Activity 1: Choosing the correct relative pronoun or adverb

Read the following sentences first to understand their meaning. Then, re-read them, and
write the appropriate relative pronoun or relative adverb in the gaps. Then, check your
answers on ELC Online.
1. The United States is a country ____________ there are relatively high trade barriers,
for example, in agriculture.
2. The subsidies _________the USA established years ago continue to protect its
domestic industries.
3. The USA and other developed countries __________have relatively high trade
barriers should lower these barriers as soon as possible.
4. Developing countries, _________ trade barriers are usually low, are actually
engaging in more liberal trade policies than developed countries.
5. Developed countries require politicians _________support free trade rather than
protectionism.

Position of relative clauses

The relative clause usually follows directly after the noun that it relates to.

Example 1

The share of the labour force that works part-time is less than 3 percent.

NOT: The share of the labour force is less than 3 percent that works part-time.

Example 2

The International Monetary Fund, whose policies support free trade, benefits developed
countries more than developing countries.

NOT: The International Monetary Fund benefits developed countries more than developing
countries, whose policies support free trade,.

If we do not put the relative clause immediately after the noun it refers to, it can make the
intended meaning of our sentence very unclear, or even change the meaning of the
sentence, as in example 2 above.

Note that the noun that a relative clause refers back to may be a long noun phrase.

58
For example,

Free trade policies have created a level of competition in today's open market that
engenders continual innovation and leads to better products.
ACTIVITY 2: CORRECTING ERRORS IN THE POSITION OF RELATIVE CLAUSES

The following sentences are confusing because the relative clause does not follow the noun,
or noun phrase, which it relates to.

Find the relative clause in each sentence and then change the organisation of the clauses to
make the meaning clear. Write the correct sentence in your notebook. Then, check your
answers on ELC Online.
1. The new trade policies produced excellent results for the economy that were
introduced in 2001.
2. The multinational company prioritised the profits over the workers’ wages that were
made in the economic boom.

Types of relative clauses

Relative clauses can be defining or non-defining. Let's look at each type.

Defining relative clauses

A defining relative clause provides essential information about the noun that it relates to. A
defining relative clause defines, or identifies, exactly which noun we are talking about.
Without the defining relative clause, we usually cannot fully understand the sentence.

For example,

The economy responded well to the expansion of trade that occurred after the signing of
the NAFTA in 1993.

If we only read the independent clause (The economy responded well to the expansion of
trade), we want to ask: Which expansion of trade?

The relative clause tells us exactly which expansion of trade the writer is talking about. She
is talking about the expansion that occurred after the signing of the NAFTA in 1993.

NOTE: We do not use commas with defining relative clauses.

Non-defining relative clauses

A non-defining relative clause provides extra information about the noun that it relates to.
However, we do not need this extra information to identify the noun; it is already clear
which noun we mean. We can remove a non-defining relative without losing the meaning of
the sentence

59
For example,

The North American Free Trade Agreement, which was signed by Canada, Mexico and the
US, came into force on January 1, 1994.

If we only read the independent clause (The North American Free Trade Agreement came
into force on January 1, 1994), the meaning is still clear. We know exactly which agreement
the writer is talking about - the NAFTA. The non-defining relative clause simply provides
additional information about the NAFTA.

NOTE: We use commas to separate a non-defining relative clause from the rest of the
sentence.

GRAMMAR NOTE: We cannot use the relative pronoun that in non-defining relative clauses.

The North American Free Trade Agreement, which was signed by Canada, Mexico and the
US, came into force on January 1, 1994.

NOT: The North American Free Trade Agreement, that was signed by Canada, Mexico and
the US, came into force on January 1, 1994.

ACTIVITY 3: DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN DEFINING AND NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

Step 1 Use a broken underline to underline the relative clause in each sentence.

Step 2 In the space next to the sentence, write Def for a defining relative clause
and Non-def for a non-defining relative clause.

The first two have been done for you as examples. After you finish, check your answers on
ELC Online.
Def International trade is the framework upon which American prosperity rests.

Non-def Western countries, which have protected their own industries, cannot claim to be engaged in free trade.

The share of the labour force that works part time is less than 3 percent.
Countries whose trade barriers are high cannot claim to be truly engaging in free trade.
Developing countries, whose trade barriers are usually low, are actually engaging in more liberal trade policies
than developed countries.
Kofi Annan, who was at that time the Secretary-General of the United Nations, called on the international
community to do more to assist developing nations.
Developed countries require politicians who support free trade and oppose protectionism.
Developing countries find it difficult to compete with countries such as the United States, which imposes high
trade barriers in key industries.
The United States is a country where there are relatively high trade barriers, such as in agriculture.
The selling price of wheat in developing countries depends on the price in the United States, where the
government gives subsidies to its farmers.

60
Omitting the relative pronoun

If the relative pronoun is the object of a defining relative clause, it is possible to omit the
relative pronoun.

For example,

Developing countries' governments oppose most of the subsidies that the United States
gives to its farmers.

Developing countries' governments oppose most of the subsidies the United States gives to
its farmers.

Let's look at the defining relative clause in first sentence above more closely.

...that the United States gives to its farmers.

In this defining relative clause:

 the subject is the United States
 the verb is gives
 the direct object is that ='the subsidies' (What does the United States give? The
United States gives subsidies to its farmers)

Thus, in this relative clause, the relative pronoun that is the object of the relative clause (it is
not the subject of the relative clause. Thus, we can omit the relative pronoun that.

However, we cannot omit the relative pronoun in the following examples:

Example 1

Countries that have relatively high trade barriers should lower these barriers as soon as
possible.

Countries have relatively high trade barriers should lower these barriers as soon as possible.

In example 1, the relative pronoun that is the subject of the relative clause. We cannot omit
the relative pronoun if it is the subject of the relative clause.

Example 2

Tariffs, which many developed countries impose on key industries, continue to be a

contentious issue in global trade talks.

Tariffs, many developed countries impose on key industries, continue to be a contentious

issue in global trade talks.

61
 In Example 2, the relative clause is a non-defining relative clause. We cannot omit the
relative pronoun in a non-defining clause.
ACTIVITY 4: DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN CORRECT AND INCORRECT SENTENCES

Read the sentences below. Some are correct; others are incorrect.
Write Correct or Incorrect next to each sentence. If the sentence is incorrect, fix the error(s).
The first one has been done for you. After you finish, check your answers on ELC Online.
1. The share of the labour force works part time is less than 3 percent. Incorrect.
2. The United States, that protects its domestic industries with trade barriers, is not engaging
in free trade.
3. The free trade policies the World Trade Organisation imposes on developing nations have
actually caused a decline in the economies and living standards in the developing world.
4. Countries which impose trade barriers such as tariffs and subsidies are engaging in
protectionist practices.
5. Kuwait that is a small country in the Middle East requires more access to the global
marketplace.

ACTIVITY 5: WRITING SENTENCES WITH RELATIVE CLAUSES

In numbers 1-7 below, combine the sentences to make a new complex sentence containing
a relative clause. The first one has been done for you as an example. Your teacher will give
feedback on this activity in class.
1. Last week, I attended a lecture. The lecture was on the topic of trade liberalisation.
 Last week... I attended a lecture which was on the topic of trade liberalisation.
2. The lecturer was Alasdair Macdonald. I had never previously met him.
 The lecturer...
3. Alasdair Macdonald explained the theory of trade liberalisation. He is an
international economist.
 Alasdair Macdonald...
4. While he lectured, he showed us a slide. The slide demonstrated the importance of
supply and demand.
 While he...
5. He used terminology. The terminology can be confusing for new students.
 The terminology...
6. To help us understand the new terms, he recommended we use our economics
textbook. The textbook defines key terms and provides examples.
 To help us understand the new terms, he recommended we use our economics
textbook...
7. At the end of the lecture, the lecturer set three readings. We have to read the three
readings before next week.
 At the end of the lecture, the lecturer...

62
A GOOD ARGUMENT ESSAY
In this lesson, we will analyse an example of a good argument essay. This will provide you
with a helpful model for the in-class feedback essay you will do later in this course and for
future essays you may need to write at university.

DISCUSSION OF THE ESSAY QUESTION

With your group, look at the following essay question and answer the following questions:

1. What does the question mean? Are there any words in the question whose meaning you
need to clarify?

2. Do you agree or disagree with the statement? To what extent? Why? Spend 1-2 minutes
discussing your position (viewpoint) with your group.

Essay question:

'English proficiency is the most significant challenge that international students face in their
quest for success in Australian tertiary institutions'. To what extent do you agree with this
statement?

THE PARTS OF AN ARGUMENT ESSAY

[Adapted from Cox & Hill, p. 61]

Before we read the model essay, let's consider the parts of an argument essay. Look at the
parts below. If you only had THREE minutes to read an essay in order to identify the writer's
position, which of these parts would you read? Why?

Parts of argument essays Purpose of part

Part 1: Introduction
This part gives an overall
view of the essay.
Part 2: Body
General To introduce the reader to the
statement/background subject of the essay.
information
Definition (s) - (optional) To explain any important
technical words to the reader.
Thesis To give the opinion/position of
the writer.
Preview/outline To tell the reader what the
main supporting ideas for the
thesis are.
Arguments To explain to the reader the
evidence that supports the

63
This part presents Body paragraph 1: main ideas.
evidence for the thesis, Topic sentence
with support. Supporting sentences
[Concluding sentence]

Body paragraph 2:
Topic sentence
Supporting sentences
[Concluding sentence]

Body paragraph 3:
Topic sentence
Supporting sentences
[Concluding sentence]

Part 3: Conclusion
This part summarises the
essay and relates the
argument to real-world
action.
etc
Summary To give the reader a brief
reminder of the thesis and
main ideas.
Final comment To tell the reader what the
best action to take is,
considering the evidence in
the essay.

READING FOR THE WRITER’S POSITION

Now, spend THREE minutes reading the parts of the model essay you decided on
above. What is the writer's answer to the essay question?

Model research (argument) essay

Essay question: 'English proficiency is the most significant challenge that international
students face in their quest for success in Australian tertiary institutions'. To what extent do
you agree with this statement?

A large number of international students choose to undertake a university degree in

Australia. As they strive for academic success, these students face a variety of challenges,
including the need to be proficient in English. However, this essay will argue that language
proficiency, although an important challenge, is not the most important. The most
significant challenge they face relates to the different expectations of the new academic
culture regarding the appropriate use of sources and written academic style.

It is true that English proficiency is a potential obstacle for many international students. For
more than 90% of overseas students, English is their second language (Amanti 2010, p. 12).

64
These students may at times experience difficulties with oral English in lectures or tutorials,
or with written English in essays and examinations (Smith 2010, p. 56). For some of these
students, this may impede successful learning and affect their grades (Smith 2010, p. 57).
However, overall, language is not the most challenging issue facing international students,
for two reasons. Firstly, this issue only significantly impacts some students (Amanti 2010, p.
17). Furthermore, as Bergman (2004, p. 62) explains, those who are affected are usually
aware of this problem and can thus access support services available at their university.

The issue which poses a greater challenge for international students than language
proficiency is the different expectations in the new academic culture. The first expectation
involves the definition of plagiarism: different cultures may have differing expectations
regarding appropriate use of sources (Mooney 1992, p. 13; Stevenson 1995, p. 3). Stevenson
(1995, p. 3) points out that these expectations tend to be unspoken; as a result, students
are likely to be unaware of their lecturers' expectations regarding the acknowledgement of
sources. Unfortunately, however, a failure to acknowledge sources in the expected way may
result in penalties ranging from a reduced grade to expulsion from university.

Another challenge for overseas students is that different academic cultures tend to have
different assumptions regarding what constitutes effective writing style (Ballard and Clanchy
1988, pp. 28-30; Alexander 2004, p. 34). Alexander (2004, p. 34) illustrates this by
comparing a postgraduate course in New Zealand with one in the United Kingdom. Despite
both courses being in English speaking academic contexts and in the field of applied
linguistics, each course had quite different expectations regarding how an essay should be
written (Alexander 2004, p. 34). These differing expectations may adversely impact the
grades and academic success of all international students, not only those who speak English
as a second language (Amanti 2010, p. 6).

In conclusion, while English level can cause difficulties for some overseas students, it is
culturally-specific expectations regarding use of sources and academic writing style that
cause the greatest challenge. Lecturers should more explicitly articulate these expectations
to students (Arkoudis n.d., p. 16). In addition, pre-university courses should be provided to
show international students the importance of "[researching] the academic cultures" in
which they will be studying (Alexander 2004, p. 35).

65
NOUN CLAUSES
A noun clause is a dependent clause that functions as a noun in a sentence.

For example,

Froning (2000) presents an overly optimistic assessment of how free trade and its
associated structures such as NAFTA have benefited the United States economy and
employment.

[= Froning (2000) presents an overly optimistic assessment of SOMETHING.]

In the sentence above, identify the:

 subject and verb in the independent clause
 subordinator, subject and verb in the dependent noun clause

Look at the list of subordinators for noun clauses:

A noun clause can function as the subject of the sentence, the object, or any other noun in
the sentence.

When a noun clause is the subject of the sentence, and the verb is 'be', we usually use
'preparatory it':

Sentence 1 (without preparatory 'it)

That free trade has led to increased competition is undeniable.

[= SOMETHING is undeniable]

Sentence 2 (with preparatory 'it)

It is undeniable that free trade has led to increased competition.

Here, it refers forward to the noun clause.

Sentence 1 is possible; however, it is much more common to use the 'preparatory it', as in
Sentence 2.

Noun clauses in academic writing

Noun clauses are common in academic writing, because many reporting verbs can be
followed by a noun clause.

For example,

Froning (2000) argues that free trade is beneficial.

66
[= Froning (2000) argues SOMETHING.]

ACTIVITY 1: ANALYSING NOUN CLAUSES IN THE MODEL CRITICAL PARAGRAPH

Look at the model critical paragraph, reprinted below, and highlight all the noun clauses.
1. In each noun clause, draw a box around the subordinator, and identify the subject
and verb.
2. Can you see any examples of 'preparatory it'?
3. Can you see examples of reporting verbs followed by a noun clause?

2. Can you see any examples of 'preparatory it'?

Yes: It is generally true that that free trade has resulted in increased competition and the
availability of new markets.

3. Can you see examples of reporting verbs followed by a noun clause?

In terms of benefits for employees, Froning (2000, para. 3) explains that free trade has
resulted in increases in job numbers, pointign to statistics showing an overall increase in
full-time employment.

She also argues that free trade has led to employees having "better-paying jobs" (para. 1).

Scott (2003, para. 2) also explains how free trade agreements may lead to significant
disadvantages for employees...

Thus, although Froning correctly argues that free trade may benefit the American
economy...

ACTIVITY 2: WRITING USING NOUN CLAUSES

Work with a partner.

Paraphrase the following two sentences. Include a noun clause, for example by using a
reporting verb (e.g. claims, explains or argues) and ensure you include an in-text citation.

Sentence 1

Since 1990, imports of real goods and services have increased 115 percent.

[Sourced from paragraph 3 of Froning, D 2000, 'The Benefits of Free Trade: A Guide for
Policymakers', Backgrounder, no. 1391, 25 August, viewed 24 September 2010,
<http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2000/08/The-Benefits-of-Free-Trade-A-Guide-
For-Policymakers>.]

67
 Sentence 2

In fact, NAFTA has also contributed to ... suppressed real wages for production workers, ...

[Sourced from from paragraph 2 of Scott, R 2003, 'The high price of 'free' trade: NAFTA's
failure has cost the United States jobs across the nation', Economic Policy Institute Briefing
Paper, no. 147, 17 November, viewed 24 September 2010,
<http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/briefingpapers_bp147>.]

Noun clauses in spoken language

We commonly use noun clauses in spoken English too, after verbs.

For example,
1. She thinks (that) the assignment's due tomorrow.
2. I don't know whether the assignment is due tomorrow or the day after.
3. I can't remember what her name is.
4. Does anyone know when the assignment is due?
5. Do you remember what her name is?

NOTE:

1. In spoken English, when we are using reporting verbs (that is, verbs which report what
people think or say, for example, believe, think, know, say, remember etc), we often omit
the subordinator that (see Example 1). However, in written academic English, we usually
include the subordinator that.

2. Note that even in a question, the noun clause must take subject-verb-object word order
(see Examples 4 and 5).
 Does anyone know when is the assignment due?
 Do you remember what is her name?

Activity: Practising spoken noun clauses

Step 1

Work with a partner. Together, write five questions that each include a noun clause. Later,
you will join another pair and have an opportunity to ask them your questions. Write
questions that people in your group may know the answers to, or have an opinion about.

Suggested topics for the questions:

 free trade, e.g. Who thinks free trade is truly free at present?
 the critical paragraph, e.g. Do you know whether we have to print our critical paragraph or
whether we can just write it by hand?
 daily life, e.g. Can anyone tell me where I could buy a printer?

68
You can use the following question openings:

Who...

Do you know...

Does anyone know...

Could/Can you tell me...

Could/Can anyone tell me...

Step 2

Now, join up with another pair to make a group of four students. Ask each other your
questions!

69
Intensive Preparation Program
(IPP)

Course Notes

(Weeks 3-5)

70
71
IDENTIFYING PLAGIARISM

REVIEWING TYPES OF PLAGIARISM

ACTIVITY: MATCHING TYPES OF PLAGIARISM WITH THEIR DESCRIPTION

Match the descriptions of different types of plagiarism on the right with the correct type on
the left.

Type Description
1. Ghostwriting A. Material is copied verbatim (exactly) from the text without
acknowledgement of the source.
2. Purloining B. Material is copied verbatim from the text and the source is
acknowledged but the material does not have quotation marks around
it.
3. Illicit C. Material is paraphrased from the text but without acknowledgement
paraphrasing of the source.
D. The assignment is written by a third party and represented by the
4. Verbatim student as their own work.
copying
5. Other E. Material is copied from another student's assignment with the
plagiarism knowledge of the other student.
6. Sham F. Material is copied from another student’s assignment or other
paraphrasing person’s paper without the person’s knowledge.

Activity: Identifying plagiarism [Adapted from: McCormack & Slaught a 2005, p. 43-44 and
McCormack & Slaught b 2005, p.23-24]

Read the following extract from a politics book which a student has highlighted. In pairs or
small groups discuss your understanding of the idea in the text.

Original extract:

Gorbachev declared that the countries of the world shared mutual interests and faced
mutual threats that went beyond class conflict. This was a revolutionary perspective for a
Soviet leader, because a Marxist-Leninist class conflict was the ultimate driving force behind
history.

Author: Papp; Year: 1994; page: 290

72
Below are various alternative uses of this extract. In groups, decide whether each is an
instance of plagiarism or not and be ready to explain why.

Incorporated text Plagiarism or

not? Why?
1 But by this time things were changing in Russia. The new leader,
Gorbachev, argued that all countries in the world had interests in common,
which were not connected with class. This was very different from the
traditional Soviet view (Papp, 1994, p. 290).
2 But by this time things were changing in Russia. Gorbachev declared that
the countries of the world shared mutual interests and faced mutual threats
that went beyond class conflict. This was a revolutionary perspective for a
Soviet leader, because a Marxist-Leninist class conflict was the ultimate
driving force behind history. The West reacted to this new way of talking ...
3 But by now things were changing in Russia, where the new leader was
talking about how the different countries of the world faced similar
problems. Such beliefs represented a complete break with standard Soviet
philosophy. The West reacted to the new mood in the USSR by ...
4 But by now things were changing in Russia. Gorbachev declared that the
countries of the world shared mutual interests and faced mutual threats
that went beyond class conflict (Papp, 1994, p. 290). This was a
revolutionary perspective for a Soviet leader, because a Marxist-Leninist
class conflict was the ultimate driving force behind history (Papp, 1994, p.
290). The West reacted to such changes by ...
5 But by now things were changing in Russia. The new leader was expressing
views which were very different from traditional Soviet ideology. As one
theorist puts it:
Gorbachev declared that the countries of the world shared mutual interests
and faced mutual threats that went beyond class conflict. This was a
revolutionary perspective for a Soviet leader, because a Marxist-Leninist
class conflict was the ultimate driving force behind history (Papp, 1994, p.
290).
6 But by now things were changing in Russia. The new leader was expressing
views that were very different from traditional Soviet ideology, in that they
represented a revolutionary perspective for a leader of the USSR in which
the class struggle was the driving force. The West reacted to such changes ...
7 But by now things were changing in Russia. The new leader was expressing
views about the need for international action that were so different from
established Soviet ideology that they represented a "revolutionary
perspective for a Soviet leader" (Papp, 1994, p. 290). The West reacted to
the new Soviet mood by ...

73
ADVERB CLAUSES
[Adapted from: Oshima & Hogue 2006, pp. 210-24]

In this lesson, we are going to review dependent adjective and noun clauses and learn about
adverb clauses. We will do so by looking at the text below, titled the World Trade
Organisation, and analysing the language in this text.

Analysing clause types

In this course, we have learned that a complex sentence is a sentence that consists of one
independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. We have learned that there are
three types of dependent clauses:
 relative (adjective) clauses
 noun clauses
 adverb clauses

Now, go back through your student notes and find the lesson titled Clause and sentence
types. Find the 'List of subordinators' in this lesson. You will need this list for this lesson on
adverb clauses.

ACTIVITY: ANALYSING CLAUSE TYPES

Read the text titled What is the World Trade Organisation.

 Underline the independent clauses
 Identify the dependent clauses, using the 'List of subordinators' to help you and:
 Draw a box around the subordinators.
 Use a broken underline to underline the dependent clauses.
 Decide what type of dependent clause it is (adjective clause, noun clause or adverb
clause).

NOTE: The word but is not a subordinator; but is a co-ordinator. The word but joins two
independent clauses to make a compound sentence. Other co-ordinators include for, and,
nor, or, yet and so. We will not learn about compound sentences in this lesson.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) deals with the rules of trade
between most of the nations in the world. It uses the WTO agreements,
which are negotiated and signed by most of the world’s trading nations, to
do this. The WTO agreements provide the legal rules for international
commerce and are basically contracts which bind governments to keep
their trade policies within agreed limits. Although they are negotiated and
signed by governments, the goal is to help producers of goods and
services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.

74
 The WTO’s main purpose is to help trade flow as freely as possible
because this is important for economic development and well-being. That
partly means removing obstacles. It also involves making sure that
individuals, companies and governments know what the trade rules are
around the world.

Another important side to the WTO’s work is settling disputes. As trade

relations often involve conflicting interests, agreements such as those
negotiated in the WTO system often need interpreting. A dispute
settlement process was written into the WTO agreements so that the
parties involved would have a way to harmoniously settle any
disagreements.

The WTO began life on the 1st of January 1995, but its trading system is
half a century older. Before the organisation was called the WTO, the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) had provided the rules
for the system. However, the two organisations differ slightly. Whereas
GATT had mainly dealt with trade in goods, the WTO and its agreements
now cover trade in services, and in traded inventions, creations and
designs.

Adapted from: http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/fact1_e.htm

Adverb clauses

An adverb clause is a dependent clause that functions as an adverb. It can tell when, where,
how, why and for what purpose something happened. An adverb clause can also express a
contrast.

An adverb clause always begins with a subordinator that expresses the relationship between
the adverb clause and the independent clause. For example,

Before the organisation was called the WTO, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT) had provided the rules for the system.

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) had provided the rules for the
system before the organisation was called the WTO.

75
An adverb clause can usually go before or after the independent clause. If the adverb clause
is before the independent clause, you need to put a comma after the adverb clause.

NOTE: Not all subordinators can be used to begin a sentence (e.g. We cannot
say: Where they get the lowest prices, most people shop, but we can say: Most people
shop where they get the lowest prices.).

There are several kinds of adverb clauses:

 Time clauses answer the question ‘When?’
 Place clauses answer the question ‘Where?’
 Clauses of manner answer the question ‘How?’
 Distance clauses answer the question ‘How far?’
 Frequency clauses answer the question ‘How often?’
 Reason clauses answer the question ‘Why?’
 Purpose clauses answer the question ‘For what purpose or intention?’
 Result clauses answer the question ‘With what result?’
 Condition clauses answer the question ‘Under what circumstance or condition?’
 Partial contrast clauses (clauses of concession) show an unexpected result or
contrast.
 Contrast clauses of direct opposition show how one thing differs from another.

In this lesson, we will focus on some of these different kinds of adverb clauses: time clauses,
reason clauses, purpose clauses, result clauses, partial contrast clauses and contrast clauses
of direct opposition.

Adverb clauses of time

An adverb time clause tells when the action described in the independent clause took
place. The action in a time clause can occur at the same time or at a different time.

In the text titled What is the World Trade Organisation, there is one example of an adverb
time clause (it is the example we saw above):

adverb time clause independent clause

(dependent clause)
Before the organisation was the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) had
called the WTO, provided the rules for the system.

76
Activity: Practising time clauses

Form an adverb time clause by adding a time subordinator to the appropriate sentence in
each pair. Try to use a different time subordinator in each clause. Then write a new
sentence in your notebook by combining the adverb clause with the independent clause in
each pair. Add a comma if necessary.

1. Everyone should know what to do. An earthquake strikes.

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

2. If you are inside, move away from windows, and get under a desk or table, or stand in a
doorway. You feel the floor begin to shake.

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

3. Try to stay calm. The earthquake is happening.

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

4. Do not move. The floor stops shaking.

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

5. You are sure the earthquake is over. You may begin to move around.

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

6. You have checked carefully for fallen power lines. You may go outside.

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Adverb clauses of reason

Another frequently used adverb clause is the reason clause. It answers the question ‘Why?’.
It gives the reason for what is contained in the independent clause. Reason adverb clauses
can be placed before or after the independent clause.

Remember: If the adverb clause is placed first, you must put a comma after the adverb
clause (see example 2 and 3 below).

77
There are three subordinators that can be used in this type of clause: as, because, and since.
Here are three examples with each subordinator:

Example 1

Europeans are generally better environmentalists than North Americans because they are
more used to conserving energy.

Example 2

Since many Europeans live, work, and shop in the same suburb, they are quite accustomed
to riding bicycles, trains, and trams to get around.

Example 3

As the price of gasoline has always been quite high in Europe, most Europeans drive cars
that use less fuel.

ACTIVITY 1: IDENTIFYING REASON CLAUSES

How many reason clauses can you find in the text titled ‘What is the World Trade
Organisation?'.

ACTIVITY 2: PRACTISING REASON CLAUSES

Join the two clauses together to make a complex sentence. Make one clause into an adverb
reason clause by adding a reason subordinator. Do not change the order of the clauses. Add
a comma if necessary.

1. Coal pollutes the air and gives off a lot of carbon dioxide. Most European nations have
switched to natural gas or nuclear power to produce electricity.

2. In the US, in contrast, 56 percent of the nation’s electricity is generated by burning

coal. Coal is cheap and plentiful.

Purpose adverb clauses

A purpose adverb clause states a purpose or goal (a desired result). It answers the question
‘What is the purpose?’ A purpose clause usually follows the independent clause, but you
may put it at the beginning of a sentence if you want to especially emphasise it.

78
independent clause
A dispute settlement process was written into
the WTO agreements
The parties involved in a dispute need to
engage constructively in the dispute
settlement process
adverb purpose clause (dependent clause)
so that the parties involved would have a
way to harmoniously settle any
disagreements.
in order that they might find a way to
resolve their differences.

Note:
1. In order that is formal.
2. The modals may/might, can/could, will/would or have to usually occur in a purpose
clause.
3. In informal writing or speaking, we often use so instead of so that. For example,

A dispute settlement process was written into the WTO agreements so the parties involved
would have a way to harmoniously settle any disagreements.

When the subjects of both the independent clause and the purpose clause are the same
person or thing, we can use the following phrases instead of in order that:
 in order to + base verb OR
 to + base verb

For example,

The parties involved in a dispute need to engage constructively in the dispute settlement
process in order to find a way to resolve their differences.

OR

The parties involved in a dispute need to engage constructively in the dispute settlement
process to find a way to resolve their differences.

We can do this because the two subjects refer to the same people/organisation
(parties and they).

However, in our first example sentence, the two subjects are different (a dispute settlement
process and the parties), so it is not possible to use in order to + base verb or to + base verb.

ACTIVITY: USING PURPOSE CLAUSES

Combine the following clauses, changing the second clause into an adverb clause of
purpose. Write the answers in your notebook.

1. The United States has reduced its imports of steel (purpose: United States protects its
strategic steel industry and United States is independent in a time of war)

79
a. Use so that OR in order that:

b. Use in order to + verb:

c. Use to + verb:

2. The World Trade Organisation tries to make its trade rules as clear as possible (purpose:
all countries understand the rules)

a. Use so that OR in order that:

b. Can we use in order to + base verb? Why/ why not?

c. Can we use to + base verb? Why/ why not?

Result Adverb Clauses

A result adverb clause explains the effect or consequence of the information in the
independent clause. A result clause follows the independent clause in a sentence.

Result Subordinators
so + adjective/adverb Joanna’s cookie business is so successful that she hired three
+ that new employees last week.

New orders are coming in so rapidly that she has expanded her
production facilities.
such a(n) + singular noun Joanne’s cookies are such a success that she is considering
+ that franchising the business.

such + plural noun

+ that
so much/many + noun Running the business takes so much time now that Joanne no
+ that longer does the baking herself.

There were so many orders for her holiday cookies that her
workers were baking 24 hours a day.
so little/few + noun Now Joanne has so little free time that she has not taken a
+ that vacation in months.

Her cookies contain so few calories that even people on diets

can enjoy them.

NOTE:

The result may be a wanted result. For example,

80
Her cookies contain so few calories that even people on diets can enjoy them.

However, the result may be an unwanted result. For example,

Now Joanne has so little free time that she has not taken a vacation in months.

ACTIVITY: PRACTISING RESULT CLAUSES

Join the two clauses together to make a complex sentence. Make the second clause into an
adverb result clause by adding a result subordinator. Do not change the order of the
clauses.

1. The United States provides its farmers with large agricultural subsidies. Other countries
find it difficult to compete.

2. Car exports from the United States to Japan are hit with many tariffs. The cars are
unaffordable compared to locally-made Japanese cars.

3. The trade relationships between developed and developing countries have become (very)
unfair. Developed countries are creating more poverty.

4. The company made a (very) large profit. They were able to give bonuses to many
employees.

Partial contrast clauses (clauses of concession)

When we use a contrast clause of concession, we show that the information in the
independent clause is surprising or unexpected based on the information in the dependent
clause.

There are three subordinators that can be used in this type of clause: although, even
though and though. Below are three examples with each subordinator:

Although the WTO agreements are negotiated and signed by governments, the goal is to
help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.

Even though the WTO agreements are negotiated and signed by governments, the goal is to
help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.

The goal of the WTO agreements is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and
importers conduct their business, though they are negotiated and signed by governments,

As we can see in the three examples above, a concession clause can go before or after the
independent clause.

ACTIVITY: PRACTISING PARTIAL CONTRAST CLAUSES

Combine the two clauses using although, even though or though.

81
1. South Korea is becoming an economic superpower. It is a small country with few natural
resources.

2. Scientists know why earthquakes happen. They are still not able to predict them.

Contrast clauses of direct opposition

Look at the following sentence from our text about the WTO:

Whereas GATT had mainly dealt with trade in goods, the WTO and its agreements now
cover trade in services, and in traded inventions, creations and designs.

The above adverb clause is a contrast clause of direct opposition. In this type, the
information in the adverb clause and the information in the independent clause are in direct
contrast. With these clauses, you MUST use a comma between the two clauses no matter
which order they are in. Since the two ideas are exact opposites, you can put the
subordinator with either clause, and the clauses can be in either order.

There are two subordinators that can be used in this type of clause: whereas and while.
They have the same meaning:

Whereas GATT had mainly dealt with trade in goods, the WTO and its agreements now
cover trade in services, and in traded inventions, creations and designs.

The WTO and its agreements now cover trade in services, and in traded inventions,
creations and designs, whereas GATT had mainly dealt with trade in goods.

While GATT had mainly dealt with trade in goods, the WTO and its agreements now cover
trade in services, and in traded inventions, creations and designs.

The WTO and its agreements now cover trade in services, and in traded inventions,
creations and designs, while GATT had mainly dealt with trade in goods.

ACTIVITY: PRACTISING CONTRAST CLAUSES OF DIRECT OPPOSITION

Combine the two clauses using while or whereas.

1. A cold develops gradually, and any fever that develops will be low-grade. The flu often
comes on abruptly, with a sudden high fever.

2. Smokers claim the right to smoke in public places. Non-smokers claim the right to
breathe clean air.

HOMEWORK: ELC ONLINE ACTIVITY

Do the ELC Online activity titled Practising adverb clauses.

82
PARAPHRASING TECHNIQUES

To paraphrase means to re-write an author’s idea using different words but still retaining
the author’s original idea. There are a few techniques you can use to paraphrase an author’s
idea, but only begin to paraphrase when you have a complete understanding of the original
text. You must also use many of these techniques simultaneously; using only one technique
is not enough!

1. Replace unspecialised words with synonyms.

Original: Smoking is not allowed.
Revised: Smoking is not permitted.
Now you try.
Original: Adolescent employees sometimes argue with their employers.
Revised: ______________________________________________________________

2. Change the word forms.

Original: Darwin’s ideas have had an impact on almost all academic disciplines.
Revised: Darwinian ideas have impacted on almost all academic disciplines.
Now you try.
Original: When we look at a comparison between A and B, …
Revised: ______________________________________________________________
Original: There are a variety of solutions to…
Revised: ______________________________________________________________

3. Change the active voice to passive voice and vice-versa.

Original: Dieting can cause poor health.
Revised: Poor health can be caused by dieting.
Now you try.
Original: The researchers interviewed 60 female university students.
Revised: ______________________________________________________________

4. Change the sentence structure (this can include changing sentence types, combining
short sentences, breaking long sentences into shorter ones, moving phrases, and reversing
the order of ideas)

Original: Although there is a lot of evidence to support theory Y, not all scientists believe it.
Revised: There is a lot of evidence to support theory Y; however, not all scientists believe it.
Original: Relative clauses make your writing more complex. They enable you to combine
sentences.
Revised: Relative clauses, which enable you to combine two sentences, make your writing
more complex.

Original: The information technology revolution has changed the way we do business.
Revised: The way we do business has been changed by the information technology
revolution.

83
Now you try.
Original: Paraphrasing is a skill students need to learn. It is an important part of academic
writing. (Combine the sentences, making a complex sentence.)
Revised:____________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Original: Many customers dislike the idea of sweatshops, but they still buy clothes produced
in them. (Change the sentence type.)
Revised:____________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Paraphrasing Practice
Now, use a number of the above techniques simultaneously to paraphrase the following
sentences. They have been started for you. First, however, make sure you fully understand
them!
Original: It is not easy to find a homogenous group of students, for students generally have
different backgrounds.
Revised: ________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Original: While product awareness is strong, sales are lower than expected; thus,
shareholders are worried.
Revised: ________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Original: China has long been the world’s most populous nation, but no one knew exactly
how populous it was until last week.
Revised:___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Some of the material is adapted from:
Davies, M. 2011. Study Skills for International Postgraduates. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, NY.
http://g1wc.pbworks.com/f/PARAPHRASING+METHOD.doc

http://www.polines.ac.id/ragam/index_files/jurnalragam/paper_3%20apr%202012.pdf

84
COMPOUND SENTENCES AND COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCES
In a previous lesson, we learned that there are four types of sentences in English. In that
lesson, we analysed the first two types: simple sentences and complex sentences. Today, we
will analyse compound and compound-complex sentences.

Below is a summary of the four types of sentences:

1. Simple sentences = one independent clause

2. Complex sentences = one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses

3. Compound sentences = two or more independent clauses

4. Compound-complex sentences = two or more independent clauses and at least one

dependent clause

Compound sentences

A compound sentence is two or more independent clauses joined together, and it shows a
relationship between these two clauses. There are three ways to join independent clauses
in English:

a. Compound Sentences with a coordinator e.g. The demand for oil is huge, but the supply
of oil is very limited.

b. Compound Sentences with a conjunctive adverb e.g. The demand for oil is huge;
however, the supply of oil is very limited.

c. Compound Sentences with a semi-colon e.g. The demand for oil is huge;the supply of oil
is very limited.

Let's look at each of these in more detail.

a. Compound Sentences with a coordinator

independent clause, + coordinator + independent clause

For example,

The demand for oil is huge, but the supply of oil is very limited.

Note: There is a comma after the first independent clause.

Co-ordinators can be remembered with the mnemonic FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet,
so).

85
for

The car industry in the United States is no longer successful, for the CEO’s of various car
companies have not been doing a good job.

(The second clause gives the reason for the first clause.)

and

Australia produces good wine, and it also makes very good cars.

(Both clauses express equal related ideas.)

nor

The managers do not care for their workers’ safety, nor do they provide proper training.

(Nor means “and not.” It is used to join two equal negative independent clauses. Notice
that the “nor” clause uses question word order.)

but

The demand for oil is huge, but the supply of oil is very limited.

(The two clauses express contrasting ideas.)

or

The business needs to invest more in training, or they will lose their competitive advantage.

(The two clauses express alternatives or possibilities.)

yet

Australia is world famous for its many tourist destinations, yet very few Australians travel
within their own country.

(The second clause is an unexpected contrast to the information in the first clause.)

so

Coffee farmers could not sell their coffee beans at the previously high price, so they stopped
growing coffee.

(The second clause is a result of the first clause.)

86
b. Compound sentences with a conjunctive adverb

independent clause; + conjunctive adverb, + independent clause

For example,

The demand for oil is huge; however, the supply of oil is very limited.

Punctuation note: Put a semicolon before the conjunctive adverb, and put a comma after
the conjunctive adverb

Common Conjunctive Adverbs

To add a similar To add an unexpected or To add a complete To add a

idea surprising continuation contrast result

also however in contrast as a result

besides nevertheless on the other hand consequently
in addition nonetheless therefore
furthermore still thus

To list ideas in To give an To show To indicate “the first statement is

order of time example similarities not true: the second statement is
true”

meanwhile for example similarly instead

then for instance likewise on the contrary
subsequently rather

To give another possibility To add an explanation To make a stronger statement

indeed
in fact
alternatively in other words
on the other hand that isi

87
c. Compound Sentences with a semi-colon alone

independent clause; + independent clause

For example,

The demand for oil is huge; the supply is very limited.

This kind of compound sentence is possible only when the two independent clauses are
closely related in meaning and the relationship between them is clear. If not, it may be
better to use a coordinator or a conjunctive adverb.

ACTIVITY 1: PRACTISING THE THREE TYPES OF COMPOUND SENTENCES

Join the pair of sentences to make a compound sentence. After you finish, check your
answer with your partner.

1. The employees are unhappy about the current working conditions. The employees have
agreed not to strike as long as management promises to make improvements.
 Use a co-ordinator
 Use a conjunctive adverb

(If we use just a semi-colon, will the meaning be totally clear?)

2. Demand for coffee has increased. The demand for tea has decreased.
 Use a co-ordinator
 Use a conjunctive adverb
 Use just a semi-colon

3. Many foreign car companies have closed their factories. Hundreds of employees have
lost their jobs.
 Use a co-ordinator
 Use a conjunctive adverb
 Use just a semi-colon

4. Globalisation has many advantages. In Britain, people can now buy strawberries all year
round.
 Use a conjunctive adverb
 Use just a semi-colon

(There is no co-ordinator which means 'for example'.)

88
ACTIVITY 2: PRACTISING COMPOUND SENTENCES WITH A SEMI-COLON

Complete the sentences by finishing the second independent clause. Make sure it is closely
related in meaning to the first one. After you’ve completed the sentences, exchange them
with a classmate’s sentences and peer review each other’s sentences. Be prepared to share
your revised sentences with the teacher and your classmates!

1. Some employees are thinking about quitting their jobs; others…

2. The company has improved working conditions and wages; these changes…

3. The coffee growers are unhappy; their…

Compound-complex sentences

A compound-complex sentence has two (or more) independent clauses and one (or more)
dependent clauses.

For example,

Proponents of free trade claim that it leads to economic growth; however, not all
countries which participate in free trade experience economic growth.

ACTIVITY: IDENTIFYING THE FOUR TYPES OF SENTENCES

Work with a partner.

Look at Sentence A and B below (adapted from Source 3). Identify the independent and
dependent clauses, and identify what type of sentence each is.

Sentence A

As Stiglitz notes, Western countries have pushed poor nations to eliminate trade barriers,
while keeping up their own barriers, thus ensuring that they garner a disproportionate share
of the benefits.

Sentence B

As the Bouchaud-Mezard model illustrates, free trade could be a good thing for everyone,
but this will only be true if it enables wealth to flow in both directions without bias.

[Adapted from: Buchanan, Mark 2002, 'The mathematics of inequality', The Australian
Financial Review, September, viewed 27 September, 2010,
<http://www.austms.org.au/Jobs/Library4.html>.]

89
PROOFREADING YOUR RESEARCH ESSAY
Proofreading is primarily about searching your writing for errors, both grammatical and
typographical, before submitting your work to your tutor or teacher.

Proofreading can be much easier when you know what you are looking for. Although
everyone will have different error patterns, the following are issues that come up for many
writers. When proofreading your work, therefore, be on the lookout for these errors.
Always remember to make note of what errors you make frequently as this will help you
proofread your writing more efficiently in the future.

ACTIVITY: FINDING COMMON ERRORS

Look at the draft of your Research Essay. Check it against the proofreading criteria below.

Spelling
 Do NOT rely on your computer's spell-check; it will not find every error.
 Examine each word in the essay individually by reading carefully. Moving a pencil
under each line of text helps you to see each word.
 If necessary, check a dictionary to see that each word is spelt correctly.
 Be especially careful of words that are typical spelling problems, like "ei/ie" words
and homonyms like your/you're, to/too/two, and there/their/they're.

Left-out and doubled words

 Reading the report aloud (and slowly) can help you make sure you have not missed
or repeated any words.

Fragments
 Make sure each sentence has a subject.
 Make sure each sentence has a complete verb.
 See that each sentence has an independent clause; remember that a dependent
clause cannot stand on its own.

Run-on Sentences
 Review each sentence to see whether it contains more than one independent clause.
 If there is more than one independent clause, check to make sure the clauses are
separated by the appropriate punctuation.
 Sometimes, it is just as effective (or even more so) to simply break the sentence into
separate sentences instead of including punctuation to separate the clauses.
 Example run-on: ‘This type of investment is popular people of all ages choose
it’.
 Edited version: ‘This type of investment is popular, and people of all ages
choose it’.
 Another option: ‘This type of investment is popular. People of all ages choose it’.

90
Comma Splices
 Look at the sentences that have commas.
 Check to see if the sentence contains two main clauses.
 If there are two main clauses, they should be connected with a comma and a
conjunction such as: and, but, for, or, so, yet, nor.
 Another option is to take out the comma and insert a semicolon instead.
 Example: Investments are often more successful over time, this is why they
are popular with younger people.
 Edited version: Investments are often more successful over time, and this is
why they are popular with younger people.
 Edited version, using a semicolon: Investments are often more successful
over time; this is why they are popular with younger people.

Subject/Verb Agreement
 Find the subject of each sentence.
 Find the verb that goes with the subject.
 The subject and verb should match in number, meaning that if the subject is plural,
the verb should be as well and vice versa.
 Example: Investors in a risky business has to be extra careful.
 Edited version: Investors in a risky business have to be extra careful.

General suggestions for proofreading your report

Read your essay aloud
This can also help identify if the text is awkward or confusing. Any time you have to pause or
reread your text, revise this section. If it is at all awkward for you, it will probably be
awkward for your reader.
Examine your paragraphs
Examine the overall construction of your paragraphs, looking specifically at length,
supporting sentence(s), and topic sentences. Individual paragraphs that are significantly
lacking length or sufficient supporting information as well as those missing a topic sentence
may be a sign of an under-developed idea.

Check for coherence:

 Look at each paragraph. Does each have a topic. Is there a consistent series of
related points? Do the supporting sentences relate to your topic and controlling idea
as expressed in your topic sentence?
 Will your reader see these connections among the supporting points?
 Have you used linking words between your supporting points and between each
paragraph?

91
Track frequent errors

Keep track of errors that you make frequently. Revise your grammar lessons or your course
notes to assist you in eliminating these errors.

CHECKING YOUR RESEARCH ESSAY AGAINST THE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA SHEET

You should always check your assignment against the assessment criteria sheet that your
teacher has provided you with.

ACTIVITY: REVIEWING THE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA SHEET

Look at the assessment criteria sheet and each subsection (e.g structure, content, use of
sources, language) and review your essay against each point.

LOOKING AT FORMAT

Check whether you've followed the formatting guidelines (e.g. double-space, etc.)

92
THINKING ABOUT YOUR DELIVERY
Spoken language is not the only way you communicate to an audience in an oral
presentation. You also communicate through:

 voice (volume, stress, intonation, pronunciation)

 body (gestures, eye contact, conscious and subconscious body language)

Do not underestimate the importance that energy plays in all these areas, especially when
keeping your audience interested. If you have low energy levels and you allow these to rule
your presentation, your overall result will be a slow, uninteresting, awkward and
monotonous presentation. If, on the other hand, you wish to interest and engage your
audience, then raise your energy levels and show them that you are interested in and
passionate about your topic.

Activity 1: preparing introductions

Source: Sweeney, S., 2003, English for Business Communication (Student’s Book), Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, p. 61.

a. Use the notes below to prepare a brief introduction to a talk on safety for a
manufacturing company. Make sure you use introduction signpost language. Practice
with a partner.

New safety conditions for production staff

1. Protective clothing

2. Traning in accident prevention

3. Changes to working practices

Questions/ Discussion

Signpost language

Introduction signpost language

Greeting and introducing members of the group

Hello everyone I’m…

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. My name is… and this is…
Good afternoon

93
 Introducing the topic and purpose

Today I’m going to talk about…

This morning I’d like to present…
This afternoon I will describe…
I’ll explain...

Previewing/Outlining the presentation

I’ve divided my presentation into three main parts…

First I’m going to give you an overview of…

Second I’d like to deal with…
Then I’ll move on to…
Next I’ll discuss…
After that consider...
Finally explain…

Timing

My talk will take about 10 minutes.

The presentation will take about 20 minutes.

Policy on questions / discussion

Please interrupt if you have any questions.

After my talk there’ll be time for a discussion and any questions.

Body signpost language

Ending sections

So that concludes the introduction.

That’s all for the introduction.
That completes / concludes…
That’s all I want to say for now on…

Introducing sections

So, let’s start with…

So, let’s begin by looking at…
Now, let’s move on to…
So now we come to…
Now I want to describe…
Next, let’s turn to…
Finally, let’s look at…

94
 Listing

There are three things to consider. First… Second… Third…

There are two kinds of…The first is…The second is…
We can see four advantages and two disadvantages. First. Advantages. One is… Another
is… A third advantage is… Finally…

Sequencing

There are seven different stages to the process. First / then / next / after that / last…
There are two steps involved. The first step is…The second step is…
There are four stages to the project. At the beginning, later, then, finally…

Finishing your part and handing over to the next person in your group

So, that covers all I wanted to say. I’d now like to hand over to Mary.
So, that’s why smoking should be banned. Now, I’ll hand you over to Mary, who’ll
look at the opposing view.

Referring to visual aids

If you look at the slide you can see…

this diagram /chart / table

This slide shows…

diagram
chart
table
slide
Slide Diagram
Chart 1 shows…
Table 2…

Concluding signpost language

So, to conclude, we’ve looked at…

So, in conclusion, we’ve seen that…
To sum up,
So, that brings me to the end of my presentation
Thank you for listening.
Thank you for your attention.

95
Question time signpost language

Are there any questions?

Does anyone have any questions?
Are there any more questions?

Discussion time signpost language

Let’s move on to our discussion questions…

Our first discussion question is…
So, what do people think?
Thanks for that idea, John. What do other people think?

Activity 2: presenting a short extract from a presentation

Source: Sweeney, S., 2003, English for Business Communication (Student’s Book), Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, p. 80-81.

Choose one of the situations below to present a short extract from the body part of a
presentation to a partner or small group. Use linking expressions to connect the different
parts of the talk. Also focus on your delivery (voice, body language). Ask your classmate(s)
for feedback.

Situation 1

96
Situation 2

PROOFREADING YOUR RESEARCH ESSAY

Proofreading is primarily about searching your writing for errors, both grammatical and
typographical, before submitting your work to your tutor or teacher.

Proofreading can be much easier when you know what you are looking for. Although
everyone will have different error patterns, the following are issues that come up for many
writers. When proofreading your work, therefore, be on the lookout for these errors.
Always remember to make note of what errors you make frequently as this will help you

97
WRITING A COUNTER ARGUMENT PARAGRAPH IN AN ARGUMENT
ESSAY

When you write an argument essay you need to take a position and support it with two or
three arguments. Often, you also need to mention and refute at least one of the opposing
side’s arguments. This will strengthen your position. So, an essay outline for the essay
question below may look like this:

Question:All handgun sales should be prohibited in the U.S. To what extent do you agree
with this statement?

Thesis: I agree with the proposal that all handgun sales should be prohibited in the U.S.
Body paragraph 1: Argument (for) 1:It would decrease violent crimes.
Body paragraph 2: Argument (for) 2:It would save taxpayer money (less police).
Body paragraph 3: Argument (for) 3:It would help create a better social environment.

Body paragraph 4: An opposing side’s argument:It would restrict individual freedom (a

person couldn’t buy what he/she wants).
Refutation of opposing side’s argument:True – but freedom to live without fear is more
important.

So, a counterargument paragraph of the above (opposing side’s argument + the writer’s
refutation) could look like this:

It is true that prohibiting the sale of handguns would restrict people’s freedom to be able to
buy what they want. However, prohibiting the sale of handguns would only impact a
minority of people. It is more important for the majority of the general public to be able to
live freely in a society which is free from gun violence.

Three methods to refute an argument from the opposing side

There are three basic methods of refuting the opposing side’s argument:

Method 1: Demonstrate that your opponent’s argument is wrong because it is based on

incorrect or misleading information.

Method 2: Show that your opponent’s argument is weak because it is based on insufficient
information or ignores significant information.

Method 3: Agree that your opponent’s argument is valid but show that your points of
support are more compelling.

98
Analysing the three refutation methods
Below are three paragraphs where an opposing argument is refuted. Try to see if you can
identify which method is used.

A. The writer’s position:Workers should not be forced to retire at age sixty-five.

Opposing side’s argument and the writer’s refutation of it:
Those who think that workers should be forced to retire at sixty-five argue that as people
grow older, their bodies begin to slow down, and so it is risky for them to continue working.
This is true only in one respect: the body does slow down. However, accident rates for those
over sixty-five are slightly less than those for people under sixty-five. The reason is that
workers over sixty-five have far more experience in their jobs than younger workers, and
they are far more aware of their own limitations. Thus, the opponents’ reasoning is not
convincing.
Method: ______

B. The writer’s position:Abortion should be legal.

Opposing side’s argument and the writer’s refutation of it:
“Pro-life” people argue that abortion is the killing of a potential human being. This is
undeniably true. Nevertheless, as has been pointed out, if abortion is illegal, there will be (1)
a dramatic increase in unwanted, neglected and abused children; (2) the number of women
who die getting illegal, unhygienic abortions will increase greatly; and (3) women will lose
what they have fought so hard for: the basic right to control their own bodies. These three
points outweigh the argument of the pro-lifers.
Method: _____

C. The writer’s position:Sex education is appropriate for sixth graders in U.S. schools.
Opposing side’s argument and refutation of it:
Method: _____

What are the elements of these types of paragraphs?

What vocabulary and grammar are commonly used?

99
Practice writing a counterargument paragraph
In small groups, practice writing a counterargument paragraph of the opposing side’s
argument and the writer’s refutation from the essay outline below:
Question: Physical education should be compulsory in school.

Thesis: I strongly disagree with the suggestion that PE should be compulsory at school.

Body paragraph 1: Argument (against) 1: Students should have the right to choose which
subjects they complete at school.

Body paragraph 2: Argument (against) 2: Sport is a waste of school time and resources.

Body paragraph 3: An opposing side’s argument:Participation in sports promotes a healthy

lifestyle.
Refutation of opposing side’s argument:PE class (usually only once/twice a week) makes no
serious difference to people’s health - plenty more effective ways to ensure a healthy
population, e.g. …

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Adapted from: Rooks, G. 1988. Paragraph Power. Prentice Hall. Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

100
WRITING EXAMINATION ESSAYS
Writing an essay under examination conditions is an important skill in many university
courses.

Group discussion: Our experience of writing examination essays

Talk with your group about the following:

 Have you ever written an essay in an examination?

o What type of examination was it?
o Have you written an essay in an open-book examination (that is, similar to
what you will do for your feedback argument essay)?
 When you wrote the examination essay:
o What was the first/second/next thing you did?
o What did you find most difficult? Why?
 What are some of the differences between writing an examination essay and writing
an essay as a take home assignment?

Steps to follow in an examination essay

In an examination essay, time constraints can cause serious problems. Nevertheless, despite
time being short, it is important to follow the following steps:

1. Analyse the question

2. Do research - from your own mind if a closed-book exam, or from your books if an
open book exam
3. Plan the answer. Note: As you do NOT have time to edit and re-draft your essay in an
exam, a good plan is crucial. After you write your plan, quickly check it to see
whether:
1. you are answering the essay question
2. you have found enough sources for each paragraph (if an open book exam)
3. your structure is logical
4. Write the essay, paying close attention to your plan:
1. write the introduction (including a clear thesis statement and
preview/outline)
2. write separate body paragraphs, ensuring that:
1. you write an effective topic sentence for each body paragraph
2. each topic sentence directly answers the question and links back to
your preview
3. you include sources (in-text citations) in each body paragraph to
explain/support your topic sentence (if an open book exam)
3. write a conclusion summing up the main points from your topic sentences
and adding a relevant final comment.
5. Briefly check your essay - Try to allow at least a few minutes. Check:
1. your thesis statement and outline in the introduction clearly introduce your
essay

101
2. your topic sentences in body paragraphs are clear
3. your grammar, vocabulary, and spelling are accurate
4. If time: check your content and use of sources are effective

102
PRACTISING THE FIRST STEPS IN WRITING AN ESSAY UNDER
EXAMINATION CONDITIONS
For the remainder of this lesson, we will practise the first few steps from the ‘Writing
examination essays’ lesson, using an essay question your teacher will give you:

Activity 1: Practising Steps 1-3 under exam conditions

Individually, spend 15 minutes analysing the above essay question, and writing a plan in
your notebook.

Your plan should include:

- your answer (e.g. strongly agree /agree/ partially agree/ strongly disagree)
- your reasons (arguments) for your answer
- brief supporting ideas for your reasons

Your time starts now! Good luck!

Activity 2: Discussing my plan with my partner

Stop the clock! Show your plan to your partner and discuss the following questions:

1. Were you able to finish your plan in the time allocated? Why? Why not?

2. Show your plan to your partner and together check whether:

1. you are answering the essay question

2. you have at least 3 clear arguments

3. What have you learnt from writing this plan that could help you in the T2 In-class
Argument Essay?

Activity 3: Practising part of Step 4: writing my introduction and topic sentences

Individually, spend 15-20 minutes writing your introduction and the topic sentence for each
body paragraph in your notebook. Note: When you finish, you will give this to your partner
for feedback.

Your time starts now! Good luck!

Activity 4: Peer feedback

Stop the clock! Give your introduction and your topic sentences to your partner. Read your
partner's introduction and topic sentences and then give him/her some feedback on:

The introduction:

103
Does your partner's introduction have:

1. clear and helpful background information?

2. a clear thesis (position)?
3. an outline of her/his main arguments?
o Is the outline in the same order as the order in the body?

Topic sentences:

1. Does each topic sentence clearly relate back to the outline in the introduction?
2. What do you predict each paragraph will be about?

104
EXPRESSING REQUESTS POLITELY IN EMAIL

Task: Discuss the following questions in small groups.

1 What sorts of things may you need to request from your future lecturers (e.g. help
with understanding an assignment, explanation of the marking system)? List a few.

2 Why is it important that your requests to your lecturer are polite?

E-mail language is typically informal. In many ways, this feature is very helpful for non-
native speakers. It helps to build relationships. It also allows people to use the system
quickly and without worrying too much about typos, imperfect sentences, and so on. There
is, however, one situation where this informality can be very problematic. When a student
sends a request to a faculty or an administrator, informal language may be too direct and
thus insufficiently polite.

Two examples follow. The first might be considered only a little offensive, the second rather
more so. Of course, giving offense was not the intention of either writer.

Subject: Pages
To: Joan Robinson
From: Keiko lchiko

Dear Professor Robinson,

Finally, I have something for you to read. I will leave the draft of my paper in your mailbox
soon, so please pick it up when you stop by.

Keiko

This first message is problematic for two reasons. First, there is the vagueness of soon. (How
many times will Professor Robinson have to check her mailbox before she finds Keiko's
pages?) Second, the end of the message is completely unnecessary. Here is a simple
"repair.":

Dear Professor Robinson,

Finally, I have something for you to read. I will put the draft of my paper in your mailbox by
noon tomorrow.

105
Below is the second example.

Subject: Paper
To: Henry Tabkin
From: Kumar Bhatia

I am currently working on a paper (approx 8/9 pages). I should be done on Mon. evening.
Could you please go through it & give your comments by Wednesday?

Kumar

Studies of politeness suggest three elements for polite requests.

1 Do not impose

2 Give options

3 Make the receiver feel good

Notice how Kumar breaks all three rules. Here is what he might have written instead.

I am currently working on a paper (approx 8/9 pages). I should be done on Mon. evening. If
you are not too busy, I would appreciate any comments you might have to make before I
submit it. Unfortunately, it is due on Wed., so there isn't much time. If you can help, I'll
bring you my draft as soon as it's done. If you can't, that's quite OK too.

This draft looks better in terms of the three elements, but what do you think of this
message? Ask your instructor how he or she might react.

In contrast, here is a superb student request.

Subject: Article review

To: John Swales
From: JP Park
I was wondering if you have an article that you want me to review yet. If you have
something appropriate, next week would be a good time for me to get started on it. Don't
want to sound anxious to get going on this, but I'll be around, so let me know. Thanks.

It is clear that JP really wants to get going on this assignment and perhaps believes that John
has been a little slow off the mark. However, he presents himself as being very relaxed
about it; notice in particular his use of the past continuous ("I was wondering") to give

106
distance to the request. This message is a very good example of how to be informal and
polite at the same time. (It was also immediately successful.)

Politeness strategies are mainly achieved through modalisation which can be expressed in
the following ways:

1 modal verbs (e.g. can, could)

2 other verbs (e.g. I think that, it seems, it looks like)

3 adverbials (e.g. maybe, perhaps, probably)

4 nouns (e.g. There’s a possibility, a chance that)

5 adjectives (e.g. It’s likely, possible, certain, unlikely that)

6 minimisers (e.g. just, a bit of a, only, a little)

Other ways of making what you say polite are:

Disclaimers such as:

I know this is short notice but…
I know I came in late but…

Apologies such as:

Sorry to bother you but…
I hope this isn’t a hassle for you but…

Phrases such as:

I wonder if…Would you mind…

107
Task: Write an email to your lecturer asking if you could have an extension on your essay.

Subject:
To: John Knox
From:
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

Task: Exchange emails with a partner. Are they polite enough? Do they contain the three
elements for polite requests?

Now share emails with your teacher and the rest of the class.

Adapted from: Swales, J. & Feak, C. 2004. Academic Writing for Graduate Students (2nd ed.) Ann Arbor: The
University of Michigan Press and Hogarth, W. & Burnett, L. 1995. Talking it Through: Teacher’s Guide and
Classroom Materials. Sydney: NCELTR.

108