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RUNNING HEAD: Reaction Paper. Writing Academic English.

Chapter 1. Paragraph Structure

In Chapter 1 from the book, Writing Academic English, the author expresses ideas of

how to write an academic paragraph regarding its structure and supporting details. First of all,

Oshima states that “A paragraph is a group of related sentences that discuss one main idea.”

(Oshima & Hogue, 2006, p.2), therefore the author describes the purpose of these sentences and

brings examples of its functions to shape the paragraph structure. Afterwards, Oshima explains

the structure of a paragraph, emphasizing on the topic sentence, its position within the paragraph

and its parts. Besides, the reader can find the definitions of supporting sentences and concluding

sentence, providing examples and practice exercises to have a better understanding of what is

mentioned before.

Having examined the steps to write a paragraph correctly, it is evident the relevance of

this information which I found compelling, regarding that outlining, writing and concluding a

paragraph is a challenge where most of the unexperienced writers struggle and eventually fail,

hence, the importance of knowing and applying those concepts while writing.

On the other hand, there is necessary information to enhance our writing skills like to be

aware of which tense is used to reporting verbs that may cause changes in some verbs, pronouns,

and time expressions in an indirect quotation, also, the correct use of punctuation of direct

quotations and their exceptions. I am conscious about my writing process and how challenging

this can be, at least in the beginning, however, it is necessary to start following the reviewed

concepts and rules in order to improve the writing ability. To sum up, I found this chapter

valuable, useful and understandable. I hope to get some time to review and practice with the

suggested exercises.
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RUNNING HEAD: Reaction Paper. Writing Academic English.
Chapter 3 Supporting details: Facts, quotations and statistics

This is a reaction paper to chapter 3 from the book Academic Writing by Alice Oshima.

Chapter 3 talks about facts, quotations and statistics for a written text.

First, the author presents the different steps to use facts, quotations and statistics. She

reviews the contrast between fact and opinion, describes the different ways of citing,

emphasizing on plagiarism. (Oshima & Hogue, 2006) points out “When you use information

from an outside source without acknowledging that source, you are guilty of plagiarism”(p.41).

thus it is explained how to avoid this malpractice and finally highlights the importance of

statistics as support, giving a complete explanation of each element, their differences and how to

apply them in a written exercise.

In my opinion the explanation in chapter 3 is didactic, because after a deep description

focusing on different perspectives and regarding different situations to support ideas and

opinions, the reader can find a large number of examples and exercises that can be developed

easily, the learner can get theory along with the practice, and the author contextualizes the

exercises upon daily activities, making the readers feel identified with the exposed situations.

On the other hand, statistics are shown as a source of reliable information which is

described through practical examples so that the reader can approach to the real concept. A series

of steps elaborate on the process of writing a paragraph in order to explain the graphics and its

meaning.

Finally, I agree that previous descriptions hold readers interest because they facilitate the

understanding of rules and suggestions to drive forward skills to become a competent writer what

I consider is the main purpose of this text.

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RUNNING HEAD: Reaction Paper. Writing Academic English.
References

Oshima, A. & Hogue A. (2006). Writing Academic English (4 ed.). New York: Pearson
Longman.

Diana Patricia Alcalá Pérez

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RUNNING HEAD: Reaction Paper. Writing Academic English.
Master of English Didactics