Language reference

Some of these phrases may be useful for groups of students when discussing the activities.
Asking for and giving opinions Do you think that ...?
I think ...
I feel that . .. is important.
Agreeing and disagreeing I agree with you (up to a point).
I'm afraid I dont agree.
That may be true, but . ..
Yes, but on the other hand ...
Making suggestions Should we include this?
lVhat about including this?
I think we should include this.
Would it be a good idea to ...?
Could we also say that . ..?
Maybe it's important to ...
Dont you think ...?
Checklng So you mean that ...?
Do you mean to say that ...?
rrtty'hat exactly do you mean by ...?

Was that eight or eighty?

$ummarising To summarise, then...
To sum up, then, ...
Let's just summarise the position.
tomparatives and superlatives This is more important than ...
.. . is of less value than .. .

... isnt as useful as ...

... is the most important thing.
These are the least useful.
Diseussing a hypothetical situation I'd want to know ...
Wouldn't you need to know about ...?
It would be useful to know if .. .
I think I'd want information about ...
Would ... be useful?
Likelihood I'm (absolutely) surei certain this will increase.
This is (quite) likely to increase.
This may/might increase.
It is (highly/very) unlikely this will increase.
This (definitely/certainly) won't increase.
C*nditions If we choose this, we will have problems.
If we included both items, there would be too many.
If we had knornrn that, we would have acted differently.
If I were in their position, I would ...
Obiigaticn We really must do this.
It's essential we do this.
It's important we do this.
We should do the following ...
$equencing First we should ..., then we should ..., and flnally we should
Explaining This is a good idea because ...
That's why I said that.
Goming in Can I come in here?
Can I just say something?
Asking and chall*nging Are we sure this is true?
Do you (really) think this is important?
Fillers and refiner* Actually ...
As a matter of fact, ...
Basically,...