DXJAKD2 Academic skills course Jiřina Hrbáčková Lesson 9 concise language •question every word in a sentence •use the most accurate words •delete filler words •turn a clause into a phrase •use pronouns and other reference words •combine sentences (frequent occurrence of relative clauses in academic writing) • Key exercise 1 1.reviews 2.e-mail monitoring 3.current knowledge 4.entails 5.supporting statutory and case law 6.employee behaviour and attitude 7.these considerations 8.existing research • Key exercise 2 1.American industrial productivity depends more on psychological than technological factors. (10 words) 2.During the/that period, many car buyers preferred pink, shiny cars. (10 words) 3.The microscope revealed a group of peculiar, round organisms. (9 words) • Key exercise 3 1. Johnson assumed that the findings had important implications for the field/were important. (11/7 words) 2.Our website presents criteria for determining the best investment. (10 words) 3.Cooperation with the expert proved to be a breaking point in the research. (14 words) 4.25 participants in the survey agreed to cooperate in the future. (12 words) 5.Behavioural economists claim that in some situations most people’s choices reveal consistent biases. (14 words) • Key exercise 4 1.The term community networking, which was coined in the 1980s, has been defined in many different ways. (18 words) 2.Financial innovation makes the lending technology more productive, allowing/facilitating sorting borrowers into smaller pools. (14 words) 3.Despite the general increase in exporting among Swedish software and business service firms, micro enterprises face a significant disadvantage in exporting. (22 words) • Presentations: Dealing with questions •Areas of questions •importance or relevance •context (How does this fit into the big picture?) •feasibility (Is it feasible, likely or possible? How so? How realistic, practical, viable is what you are offering? •timing (When is the next step?) •competence – What makes you an expert? Be ready for people to challenge your credibility or even ability. • •Tips and tools •Repeat or rephrase the question. •Smile. •Tie your answer back to the presentation. •Rehearse, if possible. •Do not guess at the answers. Promise to find out and then do so or direct the audience to where they can find the information. •Be confident. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KALbXMxItQ&list=UUPJ5gg5tFzjJd1mW35TMxJg) Dealing with questions: paraphrasing •You would like to know if/whether/what… •So you are asking… •If I understand the question correctly, you are asking… •So, your question is about… •Do I understand well that you are asking… • •Asking for a repetition: •I’m sorry, I didn’t quite understand/catch/get what you said about … / your last point. •I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean. • •Asking for confirmation of understanding: •Are you saying that…? •Correct me if I’m wrong, but… •Are you saying that…? • •Playing for time: •That’s a very interesting question. •That’s a difficult question to answer. •I am happy/glad you asked that question. (probably not true) •You have raised a very important point here. •Coming back to a point of view: •If I may just refer to what Mr X was saying a few minutes ago. •I completely agree with what Mr X said a few minutes ago about and would just like to add… •If I could add to what Mr X said a few minutes ago… • •Directing the discussion: •I think we’ve covered /dealt with that point already. •Haven’t we covered/discussed that already? •Correct me if I’m wrong, but haven’t we decided that already? •As I just said to the previous questioner… • •Rephrasing: •Perhaps I haven’t made myself clear. Basically, what I’m trying to say is… •Sorry, I’m probably not making myself clear. Let me put it in another way… •Partially agreeing: •I agree with you on the whole, / in principle, but… •By and large I accept your views, but where I disagree is… •Although I have to agree with most of what you have said… • •Stating preferences: •I tend to favour… as opposed to… •Don’t you think that … has an advantage over … in…? •Actually, I prefer… • •Tactfully disagreeing: •I agree with you up to a point, but… •To a certain extent I agree, but… •You have a point there, but… •I take your point, but have you considered…? •I see your point of view, but surely… • •Preventing an interruption: •If I might/could just finish… •With respect, I’d like to answer that at the end of the presentation… •If you would allow me to continue… •If you have no objections I’d like to take questions at the end… • •Note! Be careful about your intonation – the sentences could sound sarcastic depending on how you say them. • •You want to go on to the next question. •Obviously, we could go on and on here, but time is moving along. Perhaps we should go on to the next question. • • •Correcting misunderstanding: •I think you have misunderstood me. •We seem to be talking at cross purposes here. •This isn’t quite what I mean. •With respect, this isn’t quite what I said. • •Rephrasing: •Perhaps I haven’t made myself clear. Basically, what I am trying to say is… •Allow me to rephrase that. • •Someone asks you a question you don’t want to answer. •I don’t think we have enough time at our disposal to consider all the implication of this particular aspect. •I’m afraid I’m not in a position to comment on that just yet. •I think we can leave the problem of … aside, the real issue is… •I’m afraid I don’t have enough information at my disposal to answer that. • •Tactfully disagreeing •It looks like we’ll have to agree to differ. •Maybe we’d better leave it there and let someone else ask a question. •I suggest that you and I continue in the break and give someone else the chance to ask a question. • •The Q&A session looks like it is going to go on forever and you think it is time to stop. •If there are no further questions, then I propose we finish now. •If no one has any objections, I propose that we take finish now. •I would like to propose that we stop now and if anyone has any further questions you can always ask me in the break. • •No one asks a question! •One question that I am frequently asked is… •If anyone would like to ask something, I shall be available for a short time after to answer individually. • •