VV064 Week 3
Formal and informal language exercise:
(adapted from Swales and Feak. Academic Writing for Graduate Students. 3rd ed. Michigan. 2013.)
In the space provided, write phrasal verbs that could be used in place of the one in italics.
What other changes would you make if you were to use the sentences below in your
presentation?
1) A number of models have been discovered to describe the effect of certain cola drinks on dental
enamel erosion.
___________________________________________________________________________
2) AIDS researchers have encountered a variety of unexpected problems in their efforts to develop an
effective vaccine.
___________________________________________________________________________
3) Recent studies on car scrapping have raised the important question as to whether CO2 emissions
can be significantly reduced by decommissioning old cars.
___________________________________________________________________________
4) Problems with the new data management software were encountered soon after it was launched.
___________________________________________________________________________
5) In the past five years, the effect of different grassland management practices has been scrutinized
by many studies.
___________________________________________________________________________
Which of the italicized expressions might be more suitable for an academic paper? Can you think of
additional alternatives?
1) Crash test dummies are really important for / an integral part of automotive crash tests.
2) According to a recent study just about / nearly 25% of all cell phone users view text messaging as
an important source of entertainment.
3) There has been a lot of / considerable interest in how background sounds such as music affect
individual’s ability to concentrate.
4) We obtained robust / nice results using structural bamboo rather than timber.
5) Consumer interest in electronic billing and payment is getting bigger and bigger / increasing.
VV064 Week 3
Reporting Verbs
1) Separate the following reporting verbs into three categories:
Suggest, describe, reveal, argue, note, show, speculate, point out, reject, strongly believe that,
propose, deny, negate, report, challenge, take into consideration, study, imply, emphasize,
recommend, demonstrate, postulate, claim, examine, go on to say that, state.
Neutral Tentative Strong
2) Rephrase the following sentences with an appropriate reporting verb. Make sure you use
a reporting verb of the same/similar meaning!
Dr. Nichols: “I believe that applying for the new grant would be beneficial.”
Nichols...
Conference committee email: “Remember you have to submit the abstract by the deadline.”
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Professor Mikulka: “I definitely can’t agree with this proposal.”
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Presenter: “As you can see, the results show that the project was an utter failure.”
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Research paper: “Therefore, it is better to follow the proposed plan.”
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Max: “Hey, how about we work on the project together?”
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Dean Smith: “I am happy to announce that the budget proposal has been accepted.”
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Review: “Therefore, the research conducted by Johnson et al. contains glaring mistakes.”
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
IT staff: “This security update should be accepted with utmost caution.”
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Employer: “I can’t allow you to leave your job earlier, Donald!”
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
VV064 Week 3
Seminar Discussion
1) You are going to take part in a seminar discussion. Work in groups and select one of the
statements on education to discuss.
a. Students in higher education should be required to learn a foreign language.
b. Having a university education is necessary for a person’s success in life.
c. With the rise of modern technologies people should be able to understand these
technologies and know how to use them.
2) Work alone and prepare for the discussion. Note down your views on the selected statement
using the following headings.
a. Topic and focus
b. Your view
c. Main arguments for
d. Main arguments against
e. Examples and reasons
f. Conclusions
3) Work in groups and discuss your selected statement. Use the following stages to help you.
a. Express your main points
b. Get reactions
c. Allow others to make their points
d. Listen and respond
4) Select one person from your group to take notes of the main points from your discussion and
then present them to the class.
5) Expanding notes into sentences: look at your notes from the previous exercise. Can you
expand them into sentences?