1 Ell903 - 152 Subject Notes Spring 2022

ELL 903/152
Effective Written Communication for

Postgraduate Studies
SUBJECT BOOK
Subject Notes, Readings, &
Tutorial Activities
English Language & Linguistics Program (ELL)

School of Humanities and Social Inquiry (HSI)
Faculty of Arts, Social Sciences & Humanities (ASSH)
ELL 903/152 Contents Page Subject Notes Page 1

© University of Wollongong 2022. All rights reserved.
Contents
Part 1: Subject Notes (read before lectures)
Topic 1 Academic culture & academic writing (Week 1) ........................................... 3
Topic 2 Different genres and registers of academic writing in English (Week 2) .... 10
Topic 3 Information reports: our first example of an academic genre (Week 3-4) .. 26
Topic 4 Using evidence in academic writing: citing and quoting (Week 4) ............. 49
Topic 5 Historical recounts: our second academic genre (Week 5) ........................ 59
Topic 6 Comparative reports: our third academic genre (Week 6, 8) ..................... 73
Topic 7 Explanations: our fourth academic genre (Week 9) ................................... 82
Topic 8 Persuasive essays: our fifth academic genre (Week 10-11) .................... 100
Topic 9 Author identity and variation in academic writing (Week 12) .................... 112
Part 2: Readings (middle part of book) .......................................118

Readings Section TOC starts on p. 119. Readings themselves start on 123. A few
readings are on Moodle rather than in this book itself – see details p. 119 and following.
Part 3: Tutorial Activities & Assignment Details...............................240

Assessment TWO – Information Report ..................................................................... 263
Assessment THREE – Comparative Report ............................................................... 277
Assessment FOUR – Persuasive Essay .................................................................... 291
Assessment FIVE – Reflection and Tracking Log....................................................... 299
ELL 903/152 Contents Page Subject Notes Page 2

TOPIC 1 (Week 1)
Academic culture and academic writing
Culture strand
The culture of the university
A culture strand is included in the course because language does not occur in a vacuum.
Language is a part of its context and the kind of language we use is determined by the
culture. This is true of the language we use in our everyday activities and of the language
we use at university.
This university is based on a cultural tradition which is shared by universities across

Europe and the English-speaking world. If we understand this tradition and its culture, we
are able to use language to achieve our study goals much more effectively.
The lectures in the culture strand of this course will give you an opportunity to learn more
about the cultural context of the university. It is this context which determines:
– what we use language to achieve at university (purposes).
– what areas of study, what language varieties and what social behaviours are
considered valuable or significant at university, and what kinds of work or behaviour
are not valued (values).
– the way the university is structured institutionally (structures).
The purposes, values and structures of the university have evolved over time. They are a
complex configuration of a variety of historical, social and cultural factors. There is nothing
intrinsically right or wrong about the purposes, values and institutional structures of any
particular cultural context, but you may find some aspects different from the ones you are
familiar with.
In the culture strand you will hear and read about different themes and issues which are
significant in different discipline areas. In this way you will build up a picture of the kinds of
themes, issues – and the ways of talking and writing about them – which are valued at
this university.
You can find additional support in understanding the culture of the university from the
University of Wollongong’s web page.
ELL 903/152 Topic 1 Subject Notes Page 3

Roles and responsibilities
The university is a community made up of people who have many different tasks to
perform. The tasks people perform determine the kinds of language they need to use.
For example, students interact with other students, academic staff, and administrative
staff, as well as staff members who provide services that support the university’s
activities. These services include Learning Development, the counselling service, and the
library, as well as the support provided by those who work for sections of the university
such as Buildings and Grounds. Students enrolled at offshore locations or with
educational partners such as Singapore Institute of Management will have access to
specific local support services as well as many of the general UOW services.
Your time as a student will provide you with many opportunities and new experiences. As
a university student you will also have some responsibilities. It is important for you as a
student to be clear about what is expected of you during your time at university. At the
same time it is important that you know who is there to support you, and what kind of
support each of these people can give you. Using language effectively is the key to
ensuring that you are able to make the most of the academic and cultural opportunities
offered by the university, meet your responsibilities as a student and access the support
and services provided by members of the university community and by people in the wider
community.
Worksheet 1.1
One way in which we can think about the culture of the university is to think about the
ways in which notions such as “learning” are defined. Read the following quote and be
prepared to discuss your ideas on this in the lecture and tutorial.
Communicative techniques in Western classrooms tend to involve elements such

as, being process-oriented, task-based, inductive, collaborative. Western views are
‘independent’, emphasising the separateness and uniqueness of persons, while
many non-Western collectivist cultures insist on the interdependence of human
beings. Teachers in Western classrooms often expect writers to voice their
judgements, display their knowledge and give their opinions, which can create
problems for learners from more collectivist cultures where students are typically
oriented by their education to group membership and to age and gender roles
rather than to individual status (Ramanathan & Atkinson, 1999).

Language strand
Categories for analysing texts
In this course each time an example of a new text type is introduced, the language
features of the text type will be observed and analysed in terms of the following headings:
– Purpose of use in the academic context
– Text structure and organisation
– Grammatical features
Expression and presentational features of written texts will also be observed and
analysed.
These headings are the analytical categories we will use to build our knowledge of the
language demands of university study. These categories will be used to analyse
academic texts in order to reveal the language patterns and conventions of the underlying
text types. You can use your knowledge of these patterns and conventions when you
need to predict the language others will use or when you need to plan for the language
you will use. You can use these categories for comparing and contrasting different texts
and for assessing the effectiveness of your own language and the language of others.
You can also use these categories to plan which aspects of academic English you need to
study further.
The purposes of academic texts
Every time you use English to do something at university you have to draw on your
knowledge of the specific language patterns and conventions which make it possible for
you to achieve that particular purpose. The process of constructing university knowledge
involves using language to achieve the following purposes:
– observing and describing the world
– generalising and analysing what has been observed
– interpreting and evaluating academic knowledge
To use English effectively across the university, you need a repertoire of language
patterns which achieve the different purposes required of university students. These
language patterns are known as text types or genres.
Sample Text 1.1 on the following page is an example of a text type which describes
events or happenings in the world. It is typical of many texts students read in first year
University, particularly in textbooks and course notes. The specific purpose of this text is

to retell events in time. It is called a Historical Recount. Information in descriptive texts
such as this provides authoritative evidence to use in essays. Read through the text and
reflect on its purpose and context by completing the questions on Worksheet 1.2.
Sample Text 1.1 The students’ union

The students’ union of Wollongong was begun in 1955, as a branch of the NSW University of
Technology. Like the University, the union has undergone great changes and growth in the
past four decades.
In March 1962 the College began life on the North Wollongong campus. At this time there
was no Union building and a students’ room was set aside in the Administration building. In
1966, ten years after negotiations began, the Council of the UNSW finally ratified a revised
constitution and name – the Wollongong University College Students’ Union.
Slowly student groups began to affiliate with the Students’ Union. The Car Club, which was
formed in 1956 in Technical College days, was possibly the first special interest group
formed among the students. By the end of 1962 four more organisations had affiliated: the
Hockey Club, the Rugby Union Club, the Student Christian Movement and the Chess Club.
The Students’ Union greeted the newcomers of 1962 with an orientation handbook, but it
was apparently unable to produce another until 1965. Until 1963 there was no catering
service, however, during 1964 and 1965 a large number of full-time Arts and Commerce
students enrolled. Since they attended during the day they pressed for more amenities.
Until 1966, the Students’ Union was very much a boys’ club, the executive and members
being largely from engineering. As female students began to enrol, the Union began to
reflect their presence and concerns. In 1969, Helen Beacham became the first woman
President.
During the sixties Wollongong students, like those throughout the world, were politicised. In
1967 the Students’ Union became heavily involved in the autonomy campaign, a campaign
which was to last until 1970. As the Seventies wore on the students became less active but
maintained a close interest in academic affairs. In the eighties and nineties, however, radical
political activity among students was rare.
In just over forty years the Wollongong Students’ Union has grown from a small branch with
no Union building to an autonomous union of its own. Although student input in academic
affairs has reduced, the Union has done much to improve the material and social conditions
of the University.
Adapted from Castle, J 1991, University of Wollongong An illustrated history, UOW, pp. 37–38.

Worksheet 1.2
1. Describe in one or two sentences what the text is about:
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
2. Who do you think produced the text?

_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
3. For whom do you think the text was produced?

_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
4. What task do you think the writer or speaker aimed to perform?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Text structure and organisation
When English speakers use language to achieve a particular purpose, they draw on their
knowledge of the language patterns which have evolved over time in English-speaking
cultures to achieve that purpose. In this course we call such language patterns text types
(genres). Each text type has a predictable, recognisable structure, consisting of a number
of parts or stages. These stages can be learned. Once we have learned the conventions
of a text type and its structure, we can use our knowledge of the text type to construct our
own texts in order to achieve specific purposes in particular situations.
On the last page of this topic’s lecture notes, Text 1.1 has been segmented (divided) to
show you the stages the text moves through to achieve its purpose. These stages are
indicated in to the left of the text.
An important aspect of this course is learning to organise information in different ways so

that it can be related to other information. Within the stages of the text type information is
typically organised according to some pattern or taxonomy (for example, chronology,
cause and effect, comparison and contrast) which again helps the text to achieve its
purpose. The process of reorganising and relating information in different ways is referred
to as analysis. We will be using diagrams called analytical frameworks to show the
taxonomy or organisation of different texts and to provide guidance for you to read and
write the texts.

Sample Text 1.1 is organised according to time. Therefore, a useful analytical framework
for taking notes or making a plan for writing this kind of text is a timeline.
In some situations we stay reasonably true to the conventional patterns of the text type,
especially when we want to achieve a purpose in the most straightforward way. When you
are first using Academic English, it is a good idea to stay close to the conventional
patterns until you have mastered them.
Sophisticated language users, however, often adapt the conventional patterns of text
types to achieve specialised purposes by, for example, expanding on the structure of a
text type or combining two or more text types. Some very confident language users break
the conventions in order to challenge the meanings we usually make or to create the
possibility for making new meanings.
Grammatical features
Grammar is the system of structural patterns we use to organise words into groups,
phrases and clauses. The configuration of grammar patterns across a whole text gives
the text its structure and purpose. Grammar gives language its creativity and complexity.
The focus of this course is the grammar of written Academic English. In Text 1.1 below,
some of the typical grammatical features of historical recounts are shown to the right of
the text.
Spelling and punctuation are also important aspects of your written academic English.
Keep a dictionary with you when you are writing homework or assessment tasks. If you
use spelling and grammar checking in your wordprocessing program, be aware that they
are not always right. You also need to choose the most appropriate spelling convention –
choose Australian English or UK. US spelling is generally less well accepted in Australian
academic and official contexts.

Sample Text 1.1
Stage The student’s union Language features
Orientation/Background The students’ union of Wollongong was begun in
1955, as a branch of the NSW University of
Technology. Like the University, the union has
undergone great changes and growth in the past
four decades.
Record of events In March 1962 the College began life on the North
Wollongong campus. At this time there was no
Union building and a students’ room was set aside
in the Administration building. In 1966, ten years
after negotiations began, the Council of the UNSW
finally ratified a revised constitution and name – the Expressions of time
Wollongong University College Students’ Union. at beginning of
sentences and
Slowly student groups began to affiliate with the
paragraphs
Students’ Union. The Car Club, which was formed in
1956 in Technical College days, was possibly the
first special interest group formed among the
students. By the end of 1962 four more
organisations had affiliated: the Hockey Club, the
Rugby Union Club, the Student Christian Movement Generalised terms
and the Chess Club.
The Students’ Union greeted the newcomers of
1962 with an orientation handbook, but it was
apparently unable to produce another until 1965.
Until 1963 there was no catering service, however,
during 1964 and 1965 a large number of full-time
Arts and Commerce students enrolled. Since they
attended during the day they pressed for more
amenities. Simple past tense in
Until 1966, the Students’ Union was very much a record of events
boys’ club, the executive and members being stage
largely from engineering. As female students began
to enrol, the Union began to reflect their presence
and concerns. In 1969, Helen Beacham became the
first woman President.
During the sixties Wollongong students, like those
throughout the world, were politicised. In 1967 the
Students’ Union became heavily involved in the
autonomy campaign, a campaign which was to last
until 1970. As the Seventies wore on the students
became less active but maintained a close interest Expressions showing
in academic affairs. In the eighties and nineties, opinion, particularly in
however, radical political activity among students evaluation stage
was rare.
Evaluation In just over forty years the Wollongong Students’
Union has grown from a small branch with no Union
building to an autonomous union of its own.
Although student input in academic affairs has
reduced, the Union has done much to improve the
material and social conditions of the University.

TOPIC 2 (Week 2)
Different registers of academic writing in
English
Week 2 lecture: Culture strand
Registers of academic English
Introduction
In Topic 1 we examined the importance of culture in determining the style of teaching and
learning which is valued in universities in Australia. Some important aspects of this
academic culture are: i) the strong emphasis on individual performance and ability; and ii)
the emphasis on logic and scientific method.
In Topic 1 we also examined the influence of culture on the language used at university.
In particular we looked at how the purpose of speaking or writing influences the type of
text we create, the structure and organisation of the text, and particular language features.
However, in order to produce styles of writing that are valued in academic disciplines, we
also need to know more about the context in which language is used at university. In Topic 2
we will examine three facets of the academic context which create what we call Academic
English. The facets are known as Field, Tenor and Mode, and collectively as Register.
Field
Field is sometimes equated with the ‘topic’ of a text but in fact it is more than that. Field is
‘the kind of action’ or activity going on in a context, including the ‘verbal action’. This is
important because the same ‘topic’ can be addressed in different ‘fields’, and there are
consequences for the kind of language used. For instance, the field of health sciences,
the field of law, and the field of sociology might each address the topic of illicit drug use,
but they will mostly do different things with that topic, and a lot of the language used to
discuss it will be different – even the name for ‘illicit drug use’ might be different. So ‘field’
in the academic context varies considerably depending on the faculty and on the subjects
taken.
There are also some common activities across all academic discipline areas, which
separate academic fields (such as law and health sciences) from everyday fields (such as
going to parties and discussing, buying and consuming alcohol, drugs, food etc). Some of

the activities that are common to academic fields are: lectures, tutorials, essays, looking
up journals, borrowing books, graduating, and using the Student Union facilities. These
activities are represented in the spoken and written texts we encounter at university.
In our specific subject areas, there are also particular things we expect to be spoken and
written about. For example, if we are conducting an experiment in psychology, we will
choose different words and grammar from what we would choose if we are programming
in computer science. At university level the words used within particular subject areas can
be quite technical or specialised. This means the words are used only within that subject
or they have particular meanings within that context. It is expected that students will learn
and use the specialised terminology of their subject area.
Tenor
We also vary our choices of words and grammar according to who we are communicating
with. This is called the tenor of the text.
In everyday contexts, such as talking with fellow students or family members socially, we
will use different language from that which we use when we are discussing something
with a lecturer. That is because the relationship of friend and friend is generally of equal
status, whereas the relationship of student to lecturer is generally of unequal status. In the
academic context, there are typical patterns of language expressing tenor. In general, the
lecturers and tutors are in more powerful positions than the students. This is because they
are acknowledged to have more expertise than the students and because they have
power to regulate students’ behaviour in classes. Writers of textbooks and course notes
also write in an authoritative role. This does not mean that their writing cannot be
challenged, but it does mean that publication gives them status. Student writers, too, are
in an unequal relationship with their reader, who has generally more expertise and
authority than they do.
The unequal status of relationships between students and their teachers means that the
kind of tenor which is expected at university is impersonal and objective.
Another aspect of tenor concerns the degree to which the writer persuades the reader to
take a particular point of view about the topic. Writing which appears to be biased or
emotional is not valued in the academic context.
Mode
Finally, we vary our choices of words and grammar according to how we are
communicating. This is called the mode of the text. Mode depends on the distance in time
and space between ourselves and our audience and on whether we are using language to
accompany our actions or to reflect on our experience. For example if we are talking face-

to-face to someone else while we are doing an experiment, we make choices which differ
from the ones we make when we write about the experiment in order to answer an exam
question for someone who will read it at a later time. The following table illustrates the
differences between more spoken-like and more written-like ways of using language.
Spoken-like language Written-like language
Interactive – often two or more people Usually one person constructing the text.
constructing the text together Meaning needs to be contained within the text
Structure and organisation often flexible – moves Information organised more tightly – stays on
from topic to topic topic
Immediate, usually existing for the moment – Exists beyond the moment – can be planned,
corrected along the way. drafted and edited
More complicated sentence structure but simpler Simpler sentence structure but more dense and
word groups complicated word groups (esp. noun groups)
Because of the distance in time and space between the writer and reader in written
academic texts, the mode tends to be organised, generalised and abstract rather than
specific and concrete.
Worksheet 2.1
Read the two extracts below:
a) Yeah but when you tread on them, they crunch.
b) The pest status of the cockroach derives mainly from an aesthetic abhorrence of
what is regarded as a loathsome intruder.
What can you say about the status of these two texts in terms of choices in Field, Tenor
and Mode?
Language strand
Language and register
While language choices are influenced by the particular purpose of writing or speaking, it
is possible to describe a number of shared language features which contribute to what is
known as an academic register. In this section we will examine aspects of academic
English which are common to most written text types valued at university and to most
discipline areas.

Sample Texts 2.1 and 2.2 are examples from a text type which argues a particular point of
view. This text type is called an exposition. Expositions that students need to write at
University are generally much longer than these short texts. We will be examining the
structure and language features of exposition in much greater detail in topic 8, however,
at this stage we will use these texts to demonstrate general features of academic
English.
Sample Text 2.1

Dear Ms Berejiklian,
I am writing to ask why gun laws still haven’t been tightened. The shocking killing of two
people and the injuring of many more at the Lindt café in 2014 makes me really angry. I can’t
believe that these injuries and deaths, as well as the murder of so many others over the past
few years - with guns - hasn’t made you and other ministers do something about gun laws so
that this kind of killing won’t happen again. You desperately need to look at the policies on
keeping guns in this state again because they are not strong enough to stop the slaughter of
innocent people. How many more people have to be tragically killed? How many more
families will have to live with sadness because someone they love has been killed? Please
fix the situation now before more people get killed.
Yours sincerely,
Janet Champion
Sample Text 2.2

In recent years there has been much debate over proposed government legislation to
introduce tighter gun control. While there may be some grounds for the concerns of
opponents to such measures, there is strong evidence, as outlined below, that restricting
gun ownership will ultimately save lives.
Firstly, guns have the capacity to inflict much greater harm than other weapons. While it is
often argued that offenders will use other weapons if a gun is not available, there is strong
evidence for believing that the majority of domestic homicides would have remained at the
level of assault but for the availability of a gun (Cook 1983). Since 70 per cent of the
homicides which occur in NSW occur in the context of family disputes or between friends
and acquaintances (Weatherburn, 1995), it is obvious that lower levels of domestic gun
ownership will lead to fewer incidents of homicide.
A further argument supporting the restriction of gun ownership concerns the danger of
accidents to children and other members of the community…

Worksheet 2.2
After reading through Texts 2.1 and 2.2, answer the questions on Worksheet 2.2 and in
the spaces provided write examples to support your answers. These questions are
designed to encourage you to reflect on how the purpose and context influence the
language choices which are made.
Sample Text 2.1 Sample Text 2.2
What is the purpose of the text?
Does the text use specialised

terms or everyday, colloquial
terms?
Does the text appear to be

personal and subjective or does
it appear to be objective and
impersonal?
Is the text generalised and

abstract or does it relate to
specific, concrete experiences?
Do you think the text would be

highly valued in an academic
context? Why? Why not?
Language features of academic texts
So far we have identified aspects of register in general terms. It is possible, however to

identify particular sets of language features associated with different dimensions of
context (Field, Tenor or Mode). In this section we will explore the different registers of
Text 2.1 and Text 2.2 to examine the uses of language which allow Text 2.2 to be more
highly valued in an academic context.
Field – Specialised and formal language
In general every discipline area has a set of specialised and formal or even technical
terms. As we become more and more specialised within disciplines, we need to use more
of this vocabulary. This can only be achieved by familiarity with the vocabulary of the
subject area. However, it is often not enough to use the specialised vocabulary. Students
are also required to demonstrate an understanding of the terms they use within their
writing. This means that they must be able to define terms and rename them with more
familiar ones where necessary.
As well as the specialised terms of the subject area, there is another, broader set of
terms which are associated with all academic writing. These can be called formal terms.
As well as helping the text to sound more academic, these terms allow the writer to be
more specific and exact when giving information. A segment of Text 2.2 is annotated

below to show the specialised and formal terms. Formal terms are highlighted and
specialised terms relating to the field of guns and gun control are italicised.
In recent years there has been much debate over proposed government legislation to
introduce tighter gun control. While there may be some grounds for the concern of
opponents to such measures, there is strong evidence that restrictions on gun ownership
will ultimately save lives.
The activities on Worksheet 2.3 give you the opportunity to reflect on the different choices
of words made in everyday and academic contexts and to build your general academic
vocabulary.
Worksheet 2.3
Field – specialised and formal language

(a) Table 2.1 lists some everyday colloquial terms which have a similar meaning to the
specialised and formal terms used in Text 2.2. Find the formal terms in Text 2.2 and
write them beside their colloquial equivalents.
Table 2.1
Specialised and formal terms Everyday and colloquial forms
debate talk
worry
ways
proof
in the end
most
stayed
happenings
(b) Table 2.2 lists some formal terms which could have been used in Text 2.1 find the
everyday colloquial terms which are used and write beside the specialised and
formal equivalents.

Table 2. 2
Specialised and formal terms Everyday and colloquial forms
inquire
the Government
occur
review
stringent
grief
immediately
reform
Tenor – impersonal and objective ways of expressing opinion
Sample Texts 2.1 and 2.2 each have a different tone. Sample Text 2.1 has a more
personal tone than does Sample Text 2.2 the tone of which is impersonal. In text 2.1, the
writer achieves a personal tone by:
• using a speech role pronoun, e.g. I, you; we; and
• using a personal expression of opinion such as I think
In academic writing it is possible to express your opinion but this must be done in such a
way as to achieve an impersonal tone, e.g.
Personal Impersonal & objective

It would seem that….
I think that…. It would appear that….
It is likely / possible/ probable that…..
I am sure that…. It is clear/ certain that….
It is required that X be done.

We are supposed to do X
X is obligatory
Here are some examples of impersonal expressions from Text 2.2 with their personal
equivalents in brackets.

Impersonal personal
There has been much debate over … People have debated…
It is obvious that… I think….
A further argument concerns ... They argue...
To achieve an impersonal and objective tone, it is also important to:
• Avoid using words which have strong emotional value, e.g. from Text 2.1 angry,
desperately.
• Avoid asking direct or indirect questions of the reader. For example:
How many more people have to be tragically killed?
• Avoid using contractions, e.g. hasn’t
The activity on Worksheet 2.4 gives you the opportunity to reflect on personal and
subjective expressions which are not valued in the academic context.
Worksheet 2.4
Use the criteria given on the table below to find further examples of expressions which
seem more personal and subjective expressions from Sample Text 2.1.
Examples in Sample Text 2.1
Expressions with
personal pronouns
Emotional words
Contractions
Direct or indirect
questions
Mode – Organised, general and abstract language
Some resources which help a text to achieve an academically appropriate mode are:
⇒ organising paragraphs
In general, a paragraph should contain one main idea with

• a topic sentence,
• supporting sentences, and
• (sometimes) a concluding sentence.
The topic sentence orients the reader to what the paragraph will be about (i.e. the topic)
and identifies what will be included in the paragraph. The supporting sentences of a
paragraph expand the topic sentence in a number of ways depending on the purpose of
the text. Some paragraphs, especially those in persuasive texts have a concluding
sentence. The concluding sentence or clause restates, reinforces and/or summarises the
point of the paragraph. This paragraph from Sample Text 2.2 has been annotated.
Sample Text 2.3 – from the middle of the body of an essay
Reconciliation
Topic sentence The process of reconciliation between Indigenous and

colonial Australians has been greatly affected by the
Mabo decision. This decision generated a great deal of
attention and publicity to the issues surrounding
reconciliation. Debate around the relationship of Indigenous
and non-Indigenous people dominated the mainstream
media during the nineties with perspectives from both sides
given space. Although some of these perspectives were
Supporting sentences openly hostile to the goals of reconciliation, this hostility
was to some degree brought about by the fear of social and
economic change. However, there were also signs of
optimism for the reconciliation process, and these are again
appearing amongst both the Indigenous and non-
Indigenous people. Many leaders in both communities
are now confident that, with goodwill on both sides, the
Concluding clause
goals of reconciliation can eventually be realised.
⇒ organising information within sentences and paragraphs
English has a number of resources for organising and connecting information within
paragraphs. One important way is by connecting information through the sentence
beginnings and sentence endings. There are a number of patterns for connecting
beginnings and endings. These will be discussed further in later Topics.
⇒ using abstract terms
Academic texts are typically written about things and processes which cannot easily be
observed or touched. These are often complicated processes which are expressed as

things (nouns) so that a great deal of information can be condensed. This practice of
turning processes into abstract things is called nominalisation. In the following sentences
from Text 2.2, abstract terms are highlighted.
There has been much debate over proposed government legislation to

introduce tighter gun control. While there may be some grounds for the
concern of opponents to such measures, there is strong evidence that
restricting gun ownership will ultimately save lives.
Note that the abstract term ‘government’ does not refer to one single thing but to a group
of people who decide on what people should do in a particular state or nation. Similarly,
the term ‘control’ is a summary of the process of people stopping or limiting other people
in doing things. One reason for turning a process into an abstract thing is that it can then
be easily measured and described, for example, ‘tighter gun control’, ‘greater control’.
Some abstract terms can be easily identified because they end with suffixes such as -
ment, -ity, -tion, -ence, -ance and -ship.
You will have the opportunity to practice identifying abstract terms (Worksheet 2.5).
Sentence structure and grammar
Sentence structures and grammar in academic texts vary according to the purpose of the
sentence and of the text. In this section we will review knowledge of the basic
components of sentences. In further topics we will use this knowledge to explore typical
patterns used in different text types.
The basic components of sentences
⇒ VERBS
A simple sentence is one where there is one main process going on. Simple sentences
are called clauses. The main process is usually some kind of happening or a state of
being and is typically expressed by a verb. In the following clauses the verb (happening or
state of being) is highlighted.
1. The students attend classes every day.

2. Student attendance at tutorials is compulsory.
3. Politicians debated the issues until late into the night.
4. There has been much debate about the causes of the recent bushfires.

Since verbs express events/happenings or states and these occur in time, there is usually
an indication of the time of occurrence within the verbal group. This may be in the form of
a tense inflection on the end of the verb, e.g. –ed generally indicates past tense as in
clause 3. Sometimes the time frame may indicate that an event not only occurred in the
past but still has present-time relevance (as in clause 4 above, where the use of “has
been” instead of “was” signals that the past debates are still relevant at the time of
speaking/ writing). An additional word before the main verb is sometimes used to indicate
that an event will occur in the future (will, shall), although future-time events are not
always indicated in this way (e.g. in the clause Janis is going to France tomorrow, the
present tense is used to talk about future time). Finally, an event may be expressed as a
possibility or necessity and this is done by inserting such expressions as would, can,
could, should, may, might, must etc. These expressions are called modals.
A good rule of thumb for recognising a verb is to test whether the word can carry a tense
inflection to show time or whether a modal of possibility (or necessity) may be inserted
before it.
More complex sentences can contain a large number of clauses, however, in written
language, these must be linked together in a cohesive way. In the following complex
sentences the verbs are highlighted and the linking word, or conjunction, is italicised.
Ø The students came to the university and attended classes every day.
Ø As the seventies wore on, the students became less active but maintained a
close interest in academic affairs.
Verbs realise EVENTS and events can be simple or complex.
⇒ NOUNS
As well as the verb, a clause may contain one or more participants involved with the verb.
Participants are usually nouns or noun groups referring to:
• the thing or person responsible for the action or process (expressed by the
verb), and
• the thing or person receiving the action.
In the following sentences the noun groups expressing these participants are underlined.
Ø The students attended classes every day.

Ø Student attendance at tutorials is compulsory.
Ø Politicians debated the issues until late into the night.
Ø There has been much debate about the causes of the recent bushfires.

But nouns also name other types of participants in texts – not just people – not even just
places of things. Nouns also name concepts. This means nouns (or things in texts
realised by nouns) can be concrete or abstract; specific or general, and non-specialised or
technical. In academic writing, the things in texts tend to be abstract, general and, often,
technical.
Type of noun Example
abstract, often referring to and happiness, reconciliation, expectation

derived from some event
(process)
general, referring to whole areas issue, fact, problem, question, matter, idea
of understanding
technical, referring to semiotics, phonology, phonetics, semantics

phenomena from specialised
fields of knowledge, often in
general terms
Abstract nouns in particular are often difficult to recognise because they may name a
process, e.g. debate. In this particular case, the word can be used either as a noun or as
a verb (this is not always the case). However, because nouns realise things in texts, they
can be described through evaluation or classification, and have an article (a, an or the) in
front of them, so that one way of recognising a noun is to ask yourself the question: Can
this word be described, evaluated, classified or take an article? In other words, can it be:
Ø pointed out or owned, e.g. the debate; the members’ debate;
Ø counted, e.g. much debate;
Ø evaluated, e.g. fierce debate; or
Ø classified, e.g. parliamentary debate
This is a reasonably foolproof way of recognising a noun and, indeed, it is one of the main
reasons for turning processes (verbs) into nouns.
Language Note: PLURAL NOUNS for General Statements

It is best to use the plural form of nouns when you are talking about something in
a general sense (i.e., referring to a whole group of people or things). For example:

Teenagers waste too much time on uneducational activities on the Internet.
(NOT "Teenager waste too much….")
University students work very hard. / Students can benefit from this form of
exercise.
Computers are now a part of our everyday lives. (NOT "Computer is….")
Accountants study the way that individuals, businesses and states raise,
allocate and use money. (NOT "…the way that individual, business and
state…")
Sometimes (but not always!) it is possible to use the singular form with the 'generic'
('referring in a general way') meaning, but then it must be used with the definite
article "the":
The computer is now a part of our everyday lives.

The above means something like "this general thing/concept is now a part of our
everyday lives". It does not refer to any specific computer, but to all computers in
general. However, such usage of "the + singular NOUN" requires great care or it
may lead to confusion. In each of the following cases, for example, more than one
meaning is possible:
?? The teenager wastes too much time on Facebook. [à May be ambiguous
out of context: Is the writer talking about one specific teenager, or all
teenagers?]
?? The successful university student studies very hard. [à Again, if your essay
talks about both specific individuals as well as all students, you should avoid the
ambiguity.]
As a general rule, if you are not sure, it is always safer to use the plural form of
nouns when you are making a generalisation.
⇒ PHRASES
Another very important group of words which can be included in a clause are the phrases
which refer to the circumstances surrounding the process – generally specifying where,
how, why, what like, what about or when the process is being performed. In the following
clauses the phrase is shown in small capitals.
Ø The students attended classes EVERY DAY.

Ø Students’ attendance AT TUTORIALS is compulsory.
Ø Politicians debated the issues UNTIL LATE INTO THE NIGHT.
Ø There has been much debate ABOUT THE CAUSES OF THE RECENT
BUSHFIRES.
Worksheet 2.5 gives you practice at identifying verbs and things (realised by nouns or
noun groups). Worksheet 2.6 is designed to give you practice at recognising how
sentences can be divided up into key chunks or components, which fit together to make a
complete sentence in English.

Worksheet 2.5
Identifying things (realised by nouns/noun groups) & events (realised by verbs

and verbal groups) (Duplicate of Sample Text 2.3)
The process of reconciliation between Indigenous and colonial Australians has
been greatly affected by the Mabo decision. This decision generated a great deal
of attention and publicity for the issues surrounding reconciliation. Debate around
the relationship of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people dominated the
mainstream media during the nineties with perspectives from both sides given
space. Although some of these perspectives were openly hostile to the goals of
reconciliation, this hostility was to some degree brought about by the fear of social
and economic change. However, there were also signs of optimism for the
reconciliation process, and these are again appearing amongst both Indigenous
and non-Indigenous people. Many leaders in both communities are now confident
that, with goodwill on both sides, the goals of reconciliation can eventually be
realised.
1. Highlight the events (verbs/verbal groups) in the sentences in Sample

Text 2.3
2. Underline the things (nouns or noun groups).
3. Circle the abstract things
(Some things underlined (2) will also be circled (3) because they are abstract)
You have now annotated some grammatical features of Sample Text 2.3

Worksheet 2.6
Finding things (realised by noun groups), events (realised by verbal groups)

and phrases (expressing when, where, how, why, what for etc)
Label the events, things, and phrases in the sentences below. The first one has been
done for you. For the noun groups, say what type they are.
1. In March 1962, the college began life on the North Wollongong

campus.
phrase of time Thing (noun Event Thing (noun) phrase of place (where)
(when) group) (verb)
2. Students came to the university from many places for the education and
lifestyle
3. A large number of full-time Arts students enrolled during 1964
4. The university grew because of the improvement in facilities in the 1960s
5. During the sixties Wollongong students became politicised
6. In 1967 the Students’ Union became involved in the autonomy campaign

7. In the 80s & 90s radical political activity amongst students was rare

TOPIC 3 (Weeks 3 & 4)
Information reports: our first example of
an academic genre
This topic focuses on developing reading, note-taking and writing skills to assist you in
organising and storing information effectively. In the culture section we will read an article
about some important features of different academic disciplines and discuss the
expectations of your own discipline area. In the language section we will explore the
linguistic features of an information report, a very important text for organising and storing
information.
Culture strand
Reading Information Reports
Introduction
In this section we will do a guided reading of the following text, which is the second article
in the Required Readings.
Peters, P. (1985). Strategies for student writers: A guide to writing essays, tutorial
papers, exam papers and reports. Milton, Qld: John Wiley and Sons. [Chapter
1, Writing as a means of inquiry].
The activities in this section provide analysis and questions aimed to help you:
– develop your prior knowledge of the topic

– predict the likely content of the article
– skim the text for the purpose and structure and general meaning.
– use your knowledge of language to read effectively for detail
– discuss key issues raised by the article
– respond critically to the article.
The purpose of reading
Different purposes require us to read in different ways. For example, when reading to
prepare for lectures you do not have to read as intensively as when you read to gather

information for an essay. In this guided reading activity it is important to know that you will
later be required to write a text describing different disciplines of study.
Predicting in reading
Effective readers prepare for a text by building their knowledge of the topic (Field) and by
continually questioning and even guessing what the text will be about. Clues for effective
guessing are provided by things such as key words in the headings, illustrations and
diagrams and the type of book or journal the text is found in. Effective readers add these
clues to the knowledge they already have and, as they read, they confirm or correct the
predictions.
The questions on Worksheet 3.1 are designed to encourage you to predict the content of
the article you will read and to develop your knowledge of the field related to the topic of
the article.
Worksheet 3.1
Predicting in reading
Before you look at the article (Peters 1985), read through the following questions and
make brief notes in response. These are the kinds of questions you can ask yourself
before you read any new text, to help you orientate yourself and get a foothold into the
text before you even start reading.
1. What do you think the reading will be about (i.e. its FIELD)?
2. What does the word ‘inquiry’ mean?
3. What do you know about the topic already?
4. Have you ever read anything else by this writer?
5. Has this writer made a significant contribution to the field? (There may be no way of
knowing because there is no information about the author in the book – but it is
published in Australia by a reputable publisher).

6. What questions would you expect to be answered in the reading?
Skimming headings and key words
Skimming is the kind of reading we do when we want to get the general idea or gist of the
article. Many texts such as the one you are reading, arrange information so that more
general information is towards the beginnings of sections and paragraphs. Skimming
involves looking closely only at these beginnings or starting points. In many cases, a quick
skim will tell us which parts of the text we need to read closely and which parts we only
need a general idea of. Worksheet 3.2 gives you practice in using skimming skills to get
the general idea of the article.
Worksheet 3.2
1. Number each paragraph of the Peters (1985) article ‘Writing as a means of inquiry’
(there are 28 paragraphs). This will help us to refer to the paragraphs during
discussion.
2. Skim read the first section (headed ‘Places of Learning and Inquiry’) by:
o reading the first and last paragraphs (paras 1 & 7).
o underlining the topic sentence of each paragraph (1 to 7).
What is this section of the reading about? _______________________________

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
3. Skim read the subsection headed ‘Substance’ by:
o reading the first and last paragraphs (paras 8 & 13).
o underlining the topic sentence of each paragraph (8 to 13)
What is this section of the reading about? _______________________________

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________
4. Repeat this process for the subsections headed ‘Methodology’ (paras 14–16) and
‘Argumentation’ (paras 17–28)
What is the whole text about?_______________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Reading for detail and note-taking
After skimming the whole text you should be able to work out how the text is organised.
For example, the different styles of headings tell us that there are two main sections and
the second section, ‘The Three Cultures’, is divided into three subsections. Knowing that
you will be required to write a text describing different disciplines of study should tell you
that the second section needs to be read in more detail than the first.
Reading academic texts for detail can be a laborious task, especially if you are not familiar
with the field. However, knowledge of how different kinds of texts are structured and of
some key academic language features can really help you to read effectively. Writing as a
Means of Inquiry is an Information Report, written to classify and describe features of
written language in different academic disciplines. This is a form of analysis because the
writer has selected and arranged the information about the academic disciplines so that
she can relate different features or parts of them to one another. More information about
the structure and typical language features of information reports is provided in the
Language Strand of this topic.
Extracting the information you need from texts can be made easier if you use a note-
taking framework or matrix which reflects the way information is organised in the text. It
may not always be possible to identify a clear organisation in the texts you read, however,
it is possible in the second section of the Peters article. On Worksheet 3.3 a matrix has
been prepared for you. It is important that you take notes in an abbreviated form rather
than copying whole sentences from the original text. It is also important to document the
source and the pages you used so that you can reference the information appropriately.

Worksheet 3.3
Reading and note-taking (organised around FIELD)
Source ___________________________________________ Pages ___________
Humanities Social Sciences Natural Sciences
S
U
B
S
T
A
N
C
E
M
E
T
H
O
D
O
L
O
G
Y
A
R
G
U
M
E
N
T
A
T
I
O
N

Reading critically
As we saw in Topic 1, students at university in Australia are required to take a critical

stance to knowledge. However, this critical stance must be based on standards which are
valued in your discipline and not just on your own personal experience. Reading critically
involves readers standing back and considering the information they have read,
comparing it with information from other experts in the field and coming to a point of view
or ‘position’ on the issues which are raised. Critical reading should happen at all stages of
the reading process. The questions on Worksheet 3.4 are aimed to help you to reflect
critically on some of the information from the article you have read.
Worksheet 3.4
1. In tracing the history of universities, from which part of the world does Peters take her
examples?
___________________________________________________________________
2. Are you aware of universities or places of higher learning from other parts of the
world?
__________________________________________________________________
3. On page 2, Peters states that the written word has always been a central means of
teaching and learning. Do you think this statement is true for all cultures?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
4. Do you think the three cultures described by Peters are the most useful categories to
describe academic disciplines?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
5. On page 4, Peters gives a number of examples of pioneers of scientific practices and

scientific method (Newton, Huygens, Lavoisier, Frazer, Wundt, Durkheim). All of
these people are European males. Can you think of important non-Europeans or of
females who have also been influential in this area? Describe their contribution.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

Language strand
Writing information reports
Introduction
In the Culture strand we read a textbook chapter that gave information about the features
of academic disciplines. In order to communicate this information clearly, Peters has
structured the text in a systematic way, choosing language that achieves her purpose
most effectively. The result is a text we can recognise as an Information Report.
Social purpose and context
We use Information Reports in the Western academic tradition to sort and store what we
have observed about individual phenomena into data sets. On the basis of these sets we
are able to make generalisations about the way the world is. In addition people are able to
use these sets in order to retrieve the information. Organising information into categories
is a first analytical step used in this academic tradition to understand:
§ phenomena;
§ how things work; and
§ how things relate to each other in a systematic way.
Information reports are usually written. Many university text books organise information
around an information report structure. Formal spoken presentations, such as tutorial or
seminar presentations, may also use information report structure if they are analysing
information and illustrating relationships between categories for a listening audience. Tree
diagrams or a matrix are useful visual texts to use with spoken presentations of this kind.
There are different ways of synthesising information into reports. Sometimes we want to
organise all the information we have about one phenomenon. Sometimes we want to
collect information about subclasses of the same category, for example, Australian
mammals. Sometimes we write reports about the composition of a whole phenomenon,
for example, the parts of a flower. We might also wish to compare and contrast
phenomena across categories in order to establish how they are the same or different.
Skim read Sample Text 3.1 and complete the questions about its context on Worksheet
3.5.
Sample information report
Sample Text 3.1 The Humanities

The humanities refers to a major group of academic disciplines which is primarily concerned with
the study of human aspects of the world. Originally, the humanities included only the study of

grammar, logic and rhetoric, however, humanities or arts faculties now include a broad range of
subjects including languages, history, philosophy and the arts. Humanities subjects can be
described in terms of their substance, methodology and argumentation.
The humanities have been expanding continuously over centuries, from the study of just grammar,
logic and rhetoric to a vast array of languages and literatures, histories, philosophies and arts. All
humanistic disciplines, however, essentially engage us in the study of human experience, its nature
and its various forms. Human experience may be vested in historical events and materials, in
language or in other symbolic systems, such as art, film and music. The forms that embody human
experience are very diverse, and scholars studying them may choose to highlight their individual
qualities or their likeness to others in the same genre, which again contributes to the diversity of
the humanities. Broadly speaking, work in the humanities is geared to establishing common bases
for responding to humanistic media and to setting appropriate values on them.
In the humanities a range of methodologies are to be found. The methods of the natural sciences
are practiced in some areas of linguistics (for example acoustic phonetics) where the raw material
of speech (sound waves) can be handled by experimental procedures. The procedures of formal
logic are used for some subjects in philosophy, as in pure mathematics. However, most work done
in the humanities is a matter of interpretation. A number of modes of interpretation are available.
One mode is to use a relevant theory (for example, Marxist Theory) to interpret the texts which are
read. Another, which is often used in the study of literature, is to base the interpretation on a
coordinated individual response. These modes may vary from course to course within the same
discipline, depending on individual staff members.
Argumentation in the humanities depends on being able to argue points convincingly. This
depends on having both grounds for the claims which are made and on satisfactory warrants (or
implicit shared understandings) to relate the grounds to the claim. In the humanities these warrants
are mostly general. This means that they involve some common understanding or principle. The
principle has its strength in widely shared human values and is thus a satisfactory warrant.
Arguments which rely on warrants from common consensus and common human values are
frequently used in the discussion of social, ethical and aesthetic issues. Individual tastes often
jostle with one another in aesthetic discussion, and the common values we may hope to appeal to
are elusive. The relativity of aesthetic arguments means, of course, that there is room for more
than one approach and that no critic can have the last word on a piece of literature.
The matters discussed above, substance, methodology and argumentation are some of the things
which distinguish inquiry in the humanities disciplines. They affect the intellectual character of each
discipline and the way subject matter is handled, discussed and argued about. It is important that
students are aware of these broad descriptions as well as the particular expectations of their
subject and lecturers. (Adapted from Peters 1985)

Worksheet 3.5
Purpose and context

Text 3.1
What is the text about?
(Field)
What is the purpose of

the text?
Where would you find

a text like this?
Who would have

written the text?
For whom?
Is the register of the

text more academic or
everyday?
What language
characteristics help
create the register?
The stages of Information Reports (Staging/ Organisation)
The structure of an information report usually follows this pattern:
1. a general statement which tells what the report is about.

This general statement may classify the topic and may include a definition.
2. a series of descriptions for each category used to analyse the topic.

Information is bundled together under each category. Sometimes the categories
together make a taxonomy of classes and subclasses, or a composition of parts
relating to a whole. Description stages in an information report can include other texts
types, for example, explanations of processes or a recount of what happened in the
past in relation to a particular category.
3. an optional conclusion
The conclusion of a report is sometimes a link to another information set or it might be
an evaluative statement or judgement about the information.

Organising information within reports
There are three basic ways in which we organise and store our knowledge within
information reports. These are:
o Descriptive structures. These are generally aspects, features or characteristics

of the subject which are considered important in the particular discipline area. For
example, a report on a country in the context of economics would concentrate on
features such as the Gross Domestic Product, Inflation and Trade Balances. A
geographical report, however, would focus on aspects such as climate,
landforms, flora and fauna.
o Taxonomic structures. In this structure the phenomena are broken down and
described according to parts or types of things. For example, a report on a
computer might focus on the parts which make it work or on the different types of
computers.
o A combination of both Descriptive and Taxonomic structures. Very often an

information report will have a mixture of the two structures. This is often the case
with text book chapters. There might be an overriding taxonomy such as parts of
a computer, however, within each part the text might describe aspects such as its
function, its appearance and its importance.
These structures can be represented in diagrammatic form, usually a tree diagram or a

matrix. Figure 3.1 is an example of a descriptive structure based on characteristics of one
university, Figure 3.2 is an example of a taxonomic structure outlining the different parts
or sections of universities in general, and Figure 3.3 shows how descriptive and
taxonomic structures can be combined to make comparisons between universities.
We can use these kinds of diagrams for collecting information about the topic we are
researching.
Figure 3.1 Descriptive structure (e.g. features of UOW)

Wollongong University
Location Student body Facilities

Figure 3.2 Taxonomic structure (e.g. Parts of UOW)
Figure 3.3 Descriptive + taxonomic structure

Australian Universities
Wollongong Sydney New South Wales
Location
Student body
Facilities
Worksheet 3.6
Staging and organisation

1. Read through Sample Text 3.1 again and label the three stages (General statement;
Descriptions; Conclusion).
2. Draw a diagram below to represent the organisation of information in Sample Text

3.1 “The Humanities”). Is this a descriptive, taxonomic or combined structure?

Previews and Themes
In Topic 2 we looked at the role of topic sentences in organising information in

paragraphs. Topic sentences are, in fact, part of a much bigger system for organising
information, called Theme. In Information Reports the resources of theme link information
from the whole text to the paragraphs and from the paragraphs to the sentences and
clauses.
By theme we mean the information which is placed in first position. The function of
theme is to orient the reader to the topic and to signal, in a general sense, the information
to come.
In a whole text the theme could be the entire first paragraph. A whole text theme is called
a Macro theme or Text Preview.
In a paragraph, the theme (or hypertheme) is usually the first sentence. This is
traditionally known as the topic sentence. However, it is also known as the Paragraph
Preview, and this may be a better term because of the fact that in some paragraphs the
preview may take two or more sentences to complete (this is often because the writer
wants to give some background or historical information about the topic in the first
sentence).
In longer or more complex reports there may be many levels of theme to help organise
the information and make it easy for the reader to find. These can be referred to as
Section previews, sub-section previews etc.
Within a simple sentence or clause of Information Reports, themes are usually the first
part of the clause up to but not including the verb. Themes generally refer to the topic of
the text or paragraph in Reports, especially in scientific disciplines.
Sample Text 3.1a below has been annotated to show the levels of theme on a text,
paragraph and sub-section level.

Sample Text 3.1a The Humanities (adapted from Peters 1985)
The humanities refers to a major group of academic disciplines which is

primarily concerned with the study of human aspect of the world. Originally, the
humanities referred only to the study of grammar, logic and rhetoric, however,
humanities or Arts faculties now include a broad range of subjects including
languages, history, philosophy and the arts. HUMANITIES SUBJECTS CAN
TEXT
BE DESCRIBED IN TERMS OF THEIR SUBSTANCE, METHODOLOGY AND
PREVIEW ARGUMENTATION.
The humanities have been expanding continuously over centuries, from the
Section/
study of just grammar, logic and rhetoric to a vast array of languages and
Paragraph
preview literatures, histories, philosophies and arts. All humanistic disciplines, however,
essentially engage us in the study of human experience, its nature and its
various forms. Human experience may be vested in historical events and
materials, in language or in other symbolic systems, such as art, film and
music. The forms that embody human experience are very diverse, and
scholars studying them may choose to highlight their individual qualities or
their likeness to others in the same genre, which again contributes to the
diversity of the humanities. Broadly speaking, work in the humanities is geared
to establishing common bases for responding to humanistic media and to
setting appropriate values on them.
Paragraph
In the humanities a range of methodologies are to be found. The methods of
Preview the natural sciences are practiced in some areas of linguistics (for example
acoustic phonetics) where the raw material of speech (sound waves) can be
handled by experimental procedures. The procedures of formal logic are used
for some subjects in philosophy, as in pure mathematics. However, most work
done in the humanities is a matter of interpretation. A number of modes of
interpretation are available. One mode is to use a relevant theory (for example,
Marxist Theory) to interpret the texts which are read. Another, which is often
used in the study of literature, is to base the interpretation on a coordinated
individual response. These modes may vary from course to course within the
same discipline, depending on individual staff members.
Paragraph
Argumentation in the humanities depends on being able to argue points
Preview convincingly. This depends on having both grounds for the claims which are
made and on satisfactory warrants (or implicit shared understandings) to relate
the grounds to the claim. In the humanities these warrants are mostly general.
This means that they involve some common understanding or principle. The
principle has its strength in widely shared human values and is thus a
satisfactory warrant. Arguments which rely on warrants from common
consensus and common human values are frequently used in the discussion
of social, ethical and aesthetic issues. Individual tastes often jostle with one

another in aesthetic discussion, and the common values we may hope to
appeal to are elusive. The relativity of aesthetic arguments means, of course,
that there is room for more than one approach and that no critic can have the
last word on a piece of literature.
Paragraph The matters discussed above, substance, methodology and argumentation are
some of the things which distinguish inquiry in the humanities disciplines. They
Preview
affect the intellectual character of each discipline and the way subject matter is
handled, discussed and argued about. It is important that students are aware
of these broad descriptions as well as the particular expectations of their
subject, lecturers, and other more immediate genre considerations. In fact,
there are many practical issues that also have an impact on writing in the
SECTION
Preview humanities, including editorial constraints and house conventions when
writing an article for a journal, or a textbook for a publishing house. In
the section below, some of these considerations will be discussed.

Sample Text 3.1b The Social Sciences (adapted from Peters 1985)
Stages Text
The Social Sciences are a group of academic disciplines which deals with the
social aspects of the world. They are relatively new disciplines of study, originating
in the Humanities in the 19th century with the work of Frazer, Wundt and Durkheim.
Although social science subjects have been developed in universities only over the
last hundred years, these disciplines have had a great deal of influence on
academic thought and methods of study. For example, methods developed in the
social sciences sub-disciplines of politics and anthropology have been borrowed by
scholars working in history and literature.
The Social Sciences are concerned with patterns of individual and group behaviour.
These patterns can be seen from a range of perspectives, including
anthropological, sociological, psychological, demographic, linguistics and legal.
Each of these perspectives forms their own discipline of study, however, they also
influence other subjects within the social sciences and humanities. For example,
history, archaeology and linguistics influence psychology, sociology and literature.
In order to conduct research, social scientists use ordinary data. Controlled

experimentation as used in the natural sciences, can be useful in some areas, such
as in psychology where aspects of human behaviour can be measured. However,
in other areas, researchers work on more complex aspects of human behaviour
which cannot be controlled. Many social science researchers do not attempt to be
entirely objective but admit to the influence of their own theoretical and cultural
influences in interpreting their data.
The argumentation of social science subjects depends to some extent on whether

there is agreement on general principles. Many non-professional social science
subjects rely on general warrants that are mutually compatible because ethical
values may be the deciding factor. However, professional subjects, such as law and
business administration, have to rely on specialised warrants because their
arguments have to be justified in terms of the bodies of fact or precedents accepted
within the discipline.

Draw your diagram linking the Text Preview to the Topic sentences below, as per the
powerpoint slide
Introduction
As with all academic texts, information Reports have specialised and often technical
vocabulary. They are often about abstract concepts and processes and so they have
things in texts that are comprised of generalised and abstract nouns. These are an
important grammatical feature of Information Reports. Two other important grammatical
features of information reports are:
§ Expanded Noun Groups, and
§ Verbs for classifying, defining and describing.
EXPANDED NOUN GROUPS
In Information Reports (and parts of many academic research papers) much of the
describing and classifying of information occurs within the Noun group. While some
noun groups only contain a noun (that is, the name of a thing, place, person or concept),
others contain words and groups of words which give further information about that thing,
place, person or concept. In the following noun groups, the main (or Head) noun is
highlighted and the describing word or phrase is underlined:
Critical analysis

The Western intellectual tradition
One example of non-material culture
Religious icons
Noun groups are simply groups of words which contain:
⇒ a noun referring to some thing or entity, e.g. university
⇒ some words before and/or after the noun which point to, enumerate, describe, and/or
qualify it, e.g. the regional University of Wollongong.
the regional University of Wollongong

Pointer Describer Head noun Qualifier
The Pointer may point to some specific noun as in the above example, or it may indicate
something in non-specific terms, or it may indicate ownership, e.g.
Our university is A regional university

Pointer Head Noun Pointer Describer Head noun
Numerative words (one, ten, first, tenth, many, final) may also occur, e.g.
two regional Universities are Wollongong and Newcastle

Numerative Describer Head noun
Describing words may specify some quality of the noun or they may classify it, e.g.
Critical analysis
Describer Head noun
religious icons
Describer Head noun
More than one Describer may occur, e.g.
the Western intellectual tradition

Pointer Describer1 Describer2 Head noun
Sometimes the noun group contains some words, phrases or even whole clauses after
the main noun as well as before it, and these function to further qualify the noun, e.g.

the Western intellectual tradition of UoW
Phrase as
Pointer Describer1 Describer2 Head noun Qualifier
Qualifier
the Western intellectual tradition that UOW

follows
Clause as
Pointer Describer1 Describer2 Head noun Qualifier
Qualifier
It can be quite difficult to identify complex noun groups. In the following noun groups, the
main noun is highlighted and the describing clause or phrase which qualifies it is
underlined.
The places which are most special to indigenous people…
Three respected figures in the Western tradition..
To work out if a clause is being used as a Qualifier we need to ask if the information
defines the main noun. In the first example above, the main noun is ‘places’. We can ask
‘Which places?’ and get the answer ‘the places which are most special to indigenous
people’. This suggests that the information that follows ‘places’ is defining and, therefore,
part of the noun group.
Learning to build complex and expanded noun groups is very important for
packaging information efficiently in academic texts. It is also very important when
finding information in these texts. If we know the ways that noun groups are typically
structured, we can read them as a whole group rather than as individual unconnected
words and phrases.
You can find more information about the constituency of noun groups by reading the
section on ‘Participants’ (pp. 66-69) in Butt et al. (2000) Using Functional Grammar (see
the reading list in your subject outline). Note that this book uses slightly different labels for
the constituents than the ones we are teaching you in this course.
On Worksheet 3.7, there are some examples of noun groups. Identify each component in
the box below it.

Worksheet 3.7
Expanded noun groups
The sentences below each contain an expanded noun group. Analyse each of the
highlighted noun groups by labelling each component in the box below it.
For example:
It’s a reciprocal piston device powered by an external power source.
a reciprocal piston device powered by an external power source
Pointer Describer Describer Head Noun Qualifier (clause)
The forms that embody human experience are very diverse.

The forms that embody human experience
Whales have evolved into a streamlined torpedo-like shape suited to movement

through water.
A Streamlined torpedo-like shape suited to movement through water
The significance of the slow heart beat of the whale is to conserve oxygen.
The significance of the slow heart beat of the whale
Orientation
A Definition of Expanded Noun Groups (XNGs)

Expanded Noun Groups refer to those noun groups that have three or more functional
elements. All noun groups have to have a main or Head Noun, such as experiment in:
The experiment
But in order for them to be considered expanded noun groups, they need to be longer
than this and have more functional elements. Thus:
The science experiment
is an expanded noun group as it has 3 elements, a pointer (The), a Describer (science)

and the Head noun (experiment).
In other words, an expanded noun group should have one or more of the following:
an Orientation, a Describer, or a Qualifier.
Examples:

Not XNG: experiments/ the experiment(s)/ three experiments/ most experiments/
the three experiments
ü XNG: the last of the experiments / the scientific experiments/ most experiments
that are funded by interest groups
VERBS FOR DEFINING, CLASSIFYING AND DESCRIBING
Information reports function to define concepts, to classify them as ‘a kind of’ something
or ‘a part of’ something and/or to describe their attributes. In Text 3.1 the first sentence
defines ‘the humanities‘ and the second sentence classifies ‘the humanities’ according to
what it is composed of.
To define and classify, most of the clauses in descriptive paragraphs use special kinds of
verbs called relating verbs. The most common relating verbs are the verb forms of the
‘BE’ verb (i.e. be, is, are, was, were) and the 'HAVE' verb (i.e. has, have, had). Each of
these verbs has a number of synonyms or close equivalents:
Synonyms of ‘BE’ & ‘HAVE’ also serve to define, classify, or describe

Function
‘refers to’, ‘means’, ‘signifies’, ‘represents’, ‘concerns’ to define concepts
‘comprises’, ‘consists of’, ‘is made up of’, ‘includes’ to classify phenomena
‘appears’, ’seems’, ‘becomes’, ‘looks like’ to describe qualities
When an Information Report is about some phenomenon that is not restricted in time,
then the verbs which define & classify it will usually be in the simple present tense,
expressing timelessness (the way things always are), e.g.
The humanities refers to a major group of academic disciplines …
Past tense verbs, and active & passive voice
If the Report is about something specific that occurred in the past then the past tense will
naturally be used, e.g.
Dinosaurs roamed the earth from roughly 250 million to 50 million years ago. They
became extinct because….
Often the verb is represented in the passive form (as opposed to the active), e.g.
We can find a range of methodologies in the humanities à Active voice

In the humanities, a range of methodologies are to be found à Passive voice

Notice that when the passive form of the verb is used,
• the doer of the action can be left out, making the text seem more objective;
• the clause Theme is different—using the passive is one way of starting off a
clause/sentence the way we want, e.g. having the paragraph topic in Theme (first)
position.
Summary
An information report analyses and relates aspects of a general category. The language
features of information reports are listed in the table below.
Language features of information report

– expanded noun groups to package information
– prepositional phrases (circumstances of place, time and manner for example)
– verbs written in the passive form to ensure the topic remains in Theme position
– verbs to be and to have to relate characteristics, as well as synonyms of these
verbs
– ‘timeless’ present simple tense to talk about the way things always are
Word Choices
– 'action verbs' to describe behaviour or general activity
– 'relating verbs' to classify, define and describe characteristics
– general nouns which refer to very general sets of things or phenomena
– abstract nouns and nominalisations for abstract categories
– technical terms
– general adjectives and adverbs (e.g. some, most, generally, usually)
A critical stance: organising reality—but whose reality?
In this topic we have seen how information reports organise reality. Reality is, of course, a
very subjective notion. What we consider to be reality and the way we understand it is
very much a feature of our social and cultural experiences. It is important to remember
that, as you are ‘apprenticed’ into a subject at university, you are being taught to view
reality in a certain way. This view of reality may be different from the view of people who
do not go to university, who have never formally studied that subject and/or who come
from a non-Western culture. The view of reality in any particular subject area is only one
view, and it is a view that is only meaningful from the point of view of its historical, social
and cultural setting. Some of the most important jumps in understanding have come from
people who have rejected the orthodox ways of viewing reality. For example, scientists
such as Galileo and Einstein changed the reality of physicists and of anyone who thinks
about the place of the Earth in the universe or the notion of time. Feminists, queer
theorists and others in the last few decades have rejected what was traditionally

categorised as male or female. Their unconventional views have led to enormous social
changes. In order to reject orthodox and dominant world views, however, it is usually
necessary to first understand them very well. It is important, as you learn the way the
discipline you are studying organises reality, to consider what effect that world view may
have on different groups of people, and on the actions which are allowed to be taken by
those people. No worldview is ‘natural’, although some are more useful and more benign
than others at different historical points.

TOPIC 4 (Week 4)
Using evidence in academic writing: when,
why & how to cite or quote other writers
Culture strand
The culture strand of this topic focuses on developing reading and note-taking skills to
assist you in gaining maximum benefit in your assignments.
The readings you will be engaging with are located in the Readings section of your
Subject Notes book. Those that are particularly relevant to Written Assignment ONE
(Writing and Analysing an Information Report) are Readings 2, 3 and 4.
Reading Strategies
In Topic 3 we looked at the reading strategies you need to develop in order to engage
efficiently and effectively with the reading materials for your studies at university. Here we
will be employing some of those strategies in preparing the content for your first major
assignment in this subject which is to write and analyse an Information Report.
Reading with Purpose
Most importantly we need to decide what the purpose of reading these articles and
chapters is, given the context in which we are reading. Ideally, this means that you need
to have a good idea of what the assignment task is and what aspects you would like to
write about in that assignment BEFORE you start reading. For example, you may wish to
include a paragraph dealing with the specific learning styles of your discipline (e.g.
lecture/tutorials, or seminars), or the particular text types that are valued by your
discipline. This also means that you need to be systematic in your note-taking, making
sure that you include references and page numbers for the information that you intend to
use from these published sources.
Directed Note-taking
One way in which you could organise the notes you take from your reading is to use a
note-taking matrix (like the one shown in Example 1 overleaf), in which you also include
information like the page number and whether you have directly quoted or if you have
paraphrased the text already. This is important in remembering to correctly reference

these ideas when you use them in your own writing. Even in drafting your writing you
should aim to include references to the external sources you will be quoting.
Example 1: Note-taking Matrix
REF: Coffin, C & Hewings, P 2003, ‘Writing for different disciplines’, in C Coffin, MJ Curry,
S Goodman, A Hewings, TM Lillis & J Swan, Teaching Academic Writing: A
Toolkit for Higher Education, Routledge, Oxford, pp. 45-72.
Par ON TEXT TYPES
PAGE 46 Typical written text types in subjects such as physics and biology in the
Sciences discipline include: lab reports, fieldwork notes, proposals.
PAGE 48 Writing based on “quantifiable experimental proof”, typically includes finding

a gap in the knowledge, hypothesis, experimentation and findings
PAGE 49 Science writing is “highly structured” (Goldbort 2001, p. 22 cited in Coffin &
Hewings 2003)
The example above demonstrates one method for keeping your reading and note-taking
relevant to the task at hand. It contains all the necessary information you would need to
be able to incorporate these notes into your text, the full reference that will need to go into
your reference list, which paragraph in your assignment this information is most relevant
to, and the information itself with page references and clear indication of paraphrasing or
direct quotation.
Taking a Critical Stance
Another important aspect of any reading you do at university is not to simply accept what
is written as ‘universally true’. It is also important to develop a critical stance in your
learning. This does not mean looking for only negatives in the reading that you do. It is
more a matter of testing the extent to which the ideas you engage with may contain
elements of bias, or may be limited in some way or may need more explanation before
they can be adopted. That is, you need to also be aware of the perspective from which the
article/chapter/book is written. This means that you will need to scrutinise the background
of the author of the text. Are they being funded by a particular organisation to produce this
body of work? How much experience does this author have in this area? Are there any
‘vested interests’ lurking behind a particular piece of research? It is by engaging with
ideas such as these that you can make informed choices in the extent to which you wish
to adopt the ideas that you are reading about.

Worksheet 4.1
A. Use the following questions as a basis for reflecting on the readings you are doing for
Written Assignment ONE.
1. What aspects of the reading did you find particularly helpful or interesting?
2. What aspects of the reading did you find difficult to follow?
3. What aspects of the reading would you agree or disagree with? Why?
4. Do you have any questions arising from your reading?
5. How authoritative do you believe the author of the text to be in this field?
B. Be prepared to talk about your answers to these questions in the next tutorial.
Using evidence at university
When writing essays and other kinds of texts at university, it is important that your ideas
are based on evidence beyond your own everyday knowledge and experience. Evidence
is used for a number of reasons. Using evidence:
– shows your respect for the authority of those who have gone before you in your
field;
– helps persuade your reader to agree with your point of view;
– helps to develop your understanding of issues.
In this section we will examine in a general way how evidence from other sources can be
incorporated into texts and examine some strategies to avoid plagiarism. We will also
examine different kinds of source material and how sources may be effectively referred to.
In Topic 8 we will examine ways of using evidence to back up your arguments.
Evidence and source material
Source material refers to the authorities that you have called on to build the evidence for
your information or point of view. In general, the kind of source material which is valued in
academic texts is that which comes from experts who are respected by the academic
community. Usually this is from journals or books but, in many subjects, it might include
sources such as media analyses and government documents. Sources may be primary,
secondary or tertiary.

– Primary sources are those which are closest to the original event or experience: for
example, interview, case notes, a letter; novel or story, experimental notes, journal
or diary.
– Secondary sources are one step removed from the primary source. For example, a
report based on an interview or case notes, a history book based on many primary
sources of evidence; a literary critique based on the primary source of the piece of
literature itself; a scientific report based on the experimental notes in progress, and
so on.
– Tertiary sources are one step further removed again. For example, a textbook may
be a summary of the discoveries of many scientific experiments; a journal article in
history may include different historians’ approaches to the same primary sources of
evidence.
Referring to source material
Table 4.1 shows how sources may be referred to in your text. In general, quotes should
only be used where the writer’s particular expression is important to record. Otherwise
paraphrases and summaries are easier to incorporate fluently. In all cases, the source
must be referenced.
Quoting Using the exact words of the text
Paraphrasing – using a combination

of your own words and those of the original
Reporting
Summarising – using a combination

of your own words and those of the source
to produce a shorter and more condensed
version

Table 4.1 Example of paraphrasing
from Webb, C 1991, Essay Writing for Humanities and Social Sciences, Learning
Assistance Centre, University of Sydney.
Original source (Geraerds, 1990, p. 23) Paraphrase
“There is an increase of the number of enterprises The number of enterprises which supply
which offer maintenance services. Often it is maintenance services has risen. There are often
difficult to specify clearly, and verifiably, what difficulties in specifying the nature of the
exactly should be carried out. Therefore demand. For this reason there is increasing
maintenance is increasingly offered together with combination of standardized contracts and
standardized contracts.” maintenance (Geraerds, 1990, p. 23).
Language resources for paraphrasing
Some of the resources used to paraphrase the quotation above are:
– using synonyms (other words with the same meaning);

– changing the order of the words in the sentence; and
– changing the form of words (for example, from verb to noun).
Citing and Referencing
Citing and referencing together form a system for acknowledging and recording the
sources of the information you have used in your essays and other texts. It is very
important that sources be cited and recorded accurately and consistently. It is important
not only to document actual quotations taken from the original source, but also any
information or ideas which are taken from or influenced by that source. If you do not
document these sources, you may be penalised for plagiarism.
While there is no single correct way to cite and reference, the two main systems which
are used at universities are 1) the Harvard (author-date) system and 2) the Footnoting
system. While some disciplines will accept either system if used consistently, other
disciplines use one of these systems exclusively. You will need to consult with particular
discipline areas to find out their preference (e.g. within linguistics and psychology, many
journals use the APA Style, a particular version of the Harvard system developed by the
American Psychological Association). It is because there are many different styles linked
to the Harvard system that we talk about "the Harvard system" rather than "the Harvard
Style".

1) Harvard system
In the Harvard system, acknowledgement of the author and the date of publication is done
in parentheses ( ) within the text (this is called "citing" or the act of "citation"). The full
details of the source are then given at the end of the text in alphabetical order (this is
called "referencing" or writing the reference list).
At UoW, when there is no faculty- or school-recommended referencing system, use the

Australian Harvard system as the default. You can find a guide to this system by following
the link to Referencing and citing from the Library’s home page. However, there are many
slightly different versions ('styles') of the Harvard system, with different requirements, for
example, for punctuation, referring to page numbers and use of ‘and’ or the ampersand
(&), so you need to ask your lecturer which form is preferred in your discipline.
Remember, if you learn to use one of these systems, you can learn to use any of them.
The main idea is to provide the necessary information to locate the source easily and to
be both accurate and consistent.
A webpage and an a PDF of the complete referencing guide is available on the UoW
University Website at the following address: https://uow.libguides.com/uow-harvard-guide
The following are the main characteristics of this system. However, check the UoW
Library’s Harvard referencing guide for more detail. Please use the 2022 version of the
UoW referencing guides available on the UOW library webpage.
The Harvard system (UoW version)

The examples here were originally set up to follow the Australian Government standard
guidelines presented in Snooks & Co (eds) 2002, Style manual for authors, editors and
printers, 6th edn, Wiley & Sons, Australia, previously known as the AGPS style (Australian
Government Publishing Service). If you see any differences or gaps, follow the library
Harvard Guide, or check with your tutor.
Notes Example of in-text citation
§ Investigation of its causes revealed that

the decision to launch was ‘the almost
Cite the author’s surname predictable result of a pattern of
followed by the date/year and mismanagement’ (Brody 1986, p. 26).
Order of citations then the page number (where
within the text appropriate). § Brice-Heath (1983, p. 198) investigated
the literacy activities in different
communities in the US.

It makes a strong argument, for instance,
Reference to more
Write names in alphabetical for the validity and importance of exposition
than one work at
order, separated by a colon. in the public sphere, admittedly for boys
the same time
and girls alike (Martin 1985; Poynton 1985).
Kalantzis et al. (1986, p. 88-89) report on a

Write the first author’s name
Works with more study of learners from non-literate
followed by et al. Be sure to list
than one author backgrounds.
all authors’ names in the list of
(four or more)
references at the end.
A great deal of research has been

If two different authors have the conducted into language and education
Authors with the
same surname, insert the first (Christie, F 1990; Christie, M 1985).
same surname
initial of each.
Authors with more Differences between modernism and

than one work The date of each work should
postmodernism have been laid out by
be cited in chronological order.
Hasan (1975, 1985)
Use letters (a, b, etc) after the

Authors with more publication date to indicate In developing my discussion, I shall draw
than one work in which work is being referred to. on systemic functional linguistics,
the same year These letters should also be developed by Halliday (1978a, 1985b)
used in the reference list.
Use the title of the work. § According to A History of the Far East
(1979), … [a book]
Work with no
author’s name § Reconciliation is still an issue (Pat
Dodson on the future of reconciliation,
2007) [an online article]
This includes face-to face

conversations, telephone
Personal conversations, email messages In a telephone conversation on 12th July,
communication and letters. Sources must be 2021, Dr C Cloran stated that ...
cited, but do not appear in the
reference list.
Worksheet 4.2
Find, correct and comment on the errors in referencing (vis-à-vis the Harvard system).
Text Comment
From this perspective the core activity of management

is seen as ‘making what is going on in the organisation
meaningful and sensible to the organisational
participants’ (M. Pfeiffer, 1981).
Katter (Kotter 1982, p. 85) comments: It is hard to fit

the behaviour into categories…

There is evidence that there may be little transfer of
literary skills from school to work. (Mikulecky 1985,
1985, 1989)
This model is described elsewhere in detail (Macken,

Martin, Kress, Kalantzis, Rothery, Cope 1989).
It was recently reported that safe-injecting rooms would

be trialled in Sydney (Sydney Morning Herald, 1999)
References
A Reference list (entitled References) is the list of sources which have been directly
referred to (actually mentioned) in the essay or report. A bibliography also includes
sources which have informed the writer but have not been cited in the essay. For most
assignments, students will not be asked to write to a bibliography. In the Harvard System,
full details of the source are given in the references at the end of the text in alphabetical
order. Below are the common ways of referencing Books, Journals and Online material.
Be aware when compiling your reference list or bibliography that there are different
conventions possible with regard to punctuation, capitalisation, use of parentheses for the
year of publication, date and place of publication and ways of mentioning volume and
issue/number for journal articles. Again, ask your lecturer what is required and, above all,
be consistent.
Information Example
- author’s last name Larsen, B 2018, ‘The ethics of scientific

Books - author’s initial(s) or given
language about the environment’, in Fill, R &
name
- year of publication (in Penz (eds) Routledge Handbook of
parentheses) Ecolinguistics, Routledge, London, pp. 24-34.
- title of book (italicised)
Fill, R & Penz (eds) Routledge Handbook of
- editor or translator (if other
than author) Ecolinguistics, Routledge, London.
- publisher Stacey, P 1995, State Forests of NSW, NSW
- place of publication Government Press, Sydney.
- page numbers (if appropriate)
- author’s last name
Hammond, J 1990, ‘Choice and genre in adult
Journal - author’s initial(s) or given
literacy’, Prospect: The Journal of the Adult
articles name
Migrant Program, vol.5, no.1, pp23–30.
- year of publication (in
parenthesis)
- ‘title of article’ (in) – single

quotation marks
- title of journal – italicised &
capitalised
- title of series (if applicable)
- volume and issue numbers
- page numbers
- author’s surname and initial
(if available)
Online Smith, S 2020, ‘Academic style’,
- date of publication
material EAPFoundation.com, 28 April, viewed 30 July,
- ‘title of article’
<https://www.eapfoundation.com/writing/style/>
- title of complete work
- type of medium (e.g. podcast,
but can omit for webpage)
- place of publication (if
applicable)
- date of revision (if applicable)
- access date
- URL
II) The Footnoting system
Unlike the Harvard System, in this system references to the author and date are not made
within the text. Instead, a raised number (superscript) is placed in the text and this refers
to a reference given either in a footnote or in an endnote. The footnotes or endnotes
contain the full acknowledgement of the sources and appear in the order they are referred
to, while the reference list or bibliography at the end is in alphabetical order.
In the footnoting system, if a work is referred to more than once, it can be referred to in an
abbreviated form after the first reference. Ways of abbreviating include:
Meaning Examples
Abbreviation
in the same work Stubbs, M. 1986 Educational Linguistics
ibid. Oxford: Blackwell p. 145.
used when the same author and
work is cited in the footnote
immediately before but with a ibid., p. 150.
different page number
in the work cited here Stubbs, M. 1986 Educational Linguistics
op. cit. Oxford: Blackwell p. 145.
used when the work has been cited
before but other works have been Kress, G. 1985. Linguistic Processes in
cited before it has appeared again. Sociocultural Practice. Geelong,
Victoria: Deakin University Press.
Stubbs, op. cit., p. 154.

in the place cited here Stubbs, M. 1986 Educational Linguistics
loc. cit. Oxford: Blackwell p. 145.
used when the same work and

page number by this author has Kress, G. 1985. Linguistic Processes in
been cited in an earlier footnote Sociocultural Practice. Geelong,
Victoria: Deakin University Press.
Stubbs, loc. cit.
References used in Topic 4

Humphrey, S 1996, Exploring Issues in School Geography, Metropolitan East
Disadvantaged Schools Program, NSW Department of Education and Training,
Erskineville, NSW.
UNE Teaching and Learning Centre 1999, Style Guide 1999, University of New England,
Armidale NSW.
University of Wollongong 2022, ‘UOW Harvard Guide’, accessed 19 July 2022,
https://uow.libguides.com/uow-harvard-guide.
Webb, C 1991, Essay Writing for Humanities and Social Sciences, Learning Assistance
Centre, University of Sydney.

TOPIC 5 (Week 5)
Historical recounts: our second academic
genre
Language strand: Chronicle text types – talking & writing about

the past
Introduction
Recording and accounting for change over time is important in many disciplines at university.
There are a number of ways of narrating past events. In literature, many novels use the narrative
text type to retell events in which the protagonist overcomes some kind of problem or complication.
Information Reports can also be used to record events which happened on a regular basis in the
past. Explanations can also be used to synthesise multiple causes or effects.
Another important set of text types which are used to retell and/ or explain past events is the set of
Chronicle text types. All Chronicle text types organise information according to a chronological
order of events. In this topic we will explore three text types which belong to the Chronicle family.
They are: Biographical Recount, Historical Recount and Historical Account. Of these it is the
Historical Account which is most useful at university level because it enables us to include a
deeper understanding of the events (that is, the causes and effects). We will therefore look at the
stages and language features of this text type in more detail than the other Chronicle texts.
Social purpose of chronicle text types
Chronicle text types are texts which tell us about something that happened in the past and its
significance and relevance. Table 5.1 gives an overview of a number of sub-types.
Table 5.1
Type of chronicle Specific purpose
Personal To retell a sequence of events in the past in order to entertain a listener or

recount reader.
Autobiographical To retell significant events in one’s own life. The autobiography may be
recount published if the person is famous.
Biographical To retell significant events in a person’s life. This includes an evaluation of

recount the person, their life and their place in history.
Historical To chronicle past events which are regarded as significant and to interpret
recount the historical meaning of the events.
Historical To chronicle past events which are regarded as significant, to make causal
account links between those events and to interpret the historical meaning of the
events.

The activity on Worksheet 5.1 gives you the opportunity to reflect on the purpose of some
important chronicle texts.
Worksheet 5.1
Social purpose of chronicle text types
Read through Sample Texts 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3. Use a dictionary to look up any terms you
are unfamiliar with. Use Table 5.1 to identify the text type and the purpose of each.
Sample Text 5.1

Text type ___________________________________________________
Social purpose _______________________________________________
Academic freedom
The concept and practice of academic freedom, as recognized presently in Western

civilization, date roughly from the 17th century. Although academic freedom existed in
universities during the Middle Ages, it signified at that time certain juristic rights. Before the
17th century, intellectual activities at universities were circumscribed largely by theological
considerations, and opinions or conclusions that conflicted with religious doctrines were
likely to be condemned as heretical.
In the late 17th century the work of such men as the English philosophers John Locke and
Thomas Hobbes helped pave the way for academic freedom in the modern sense. Their
writings demonstrated the need for unlimited inquiry in the sciences and for a general
approach to learning unimpeded by preconceptions of any kind. Neither Locke nor Hobbes,
however, defended unlimited academic freedom.
The German universities of Halle and Göttingen, founded in 1694 and 1737, respectively,
were the first European universities to offer broad academic freedom, with few lapses, from
their inception. The University of Berlin, founded in 1810, introduced the doctrine of Lehr–
und Lernfreiheit (‘freedom to teach and study’) and helped to strengthen Germany's position
as the leader of academic freedom in the 19th century.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, universities in Western Europe, Great Britain, and the United
States enjoyed increasing academic freedom as acceptance of the experimental methods of
the sciences became more widespread and as control of institutions by religious
denominations became less rigorous. In Great Britain, however, religious tests for
graduation, fellowships, and teaching positions were not abolished until late in the 19th
century.
Academic Freedom is, to a large extent, taken for granted in many Western institutions. This
freedom, however, has been won relatively recently in the history of higher education.
Adapted from ’Academic Freedom,’ Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 96 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993–1995 Microsoft
Corporation. (c) Funk & Wagnalls Corporation.

Worksheet 5.1 (continued)
Sample Text 5.2

Text type ___________________________________________________
Social purpose _______________________________________________
Socrates
Socrates was a Greek philosopher who lived in the fifth century BC. Socrates profoundly
affected Western philosophy through his influence on the philosopher and writer, Plato.
Socrates was born in Athens in about 470 BC. He was the son of a sculptor and a midwife.
Socrates received the regular elementary education in literature, music, and gymnastics.
Later he familiarized himself with the rhetoric and dialectics of the Sophists, the speculations
of the Ionian philosophers, and the general culture of Periclean Athens.
Initially, Socrates followed the craft of his father. Between 432BC and 422BC he served as
an infantryman with conspicuous bravery in the Peloponnesian War with Sparta. After the
war he spent the greater part of his mature life in the marketplace and public places of
Athens, engaging in dialogue and argument with anyone who would listen or who would
submit to interrogation.
Although Socrates was a patriot and deeply religious, many of his contemporaries disliked
his unorthodox attitude toward the Athenian state and the established religion. In 399 BC he
was charged with neglecting the gods of the state, introducing new divinities and corrupting
the morals of the young.
According to Plato's Apology the defense made by Socrates at his trial was a bold
vindication of his whole life. He was condemned to die, although the vote was carried by only
a small majority. When Socrates proposed only to pay a small fine because of his value to
the state as a man with a philosophic mission, the jury was so angered by this offer that it
voted by an increased majority for the death penalty.
Socrates' friends planned his escape from prison, but he preferred to comply with the law
and die for his cause. His last day was spent with his friends and admirers, and in the
evening he calmly fulfilled his sentence by drinking a cup of hemlock according to a
customary procedure of execution.
Socrates contribution to philosophy was essentially ethical in character. Belief in a purely

objective understanding of such concepts as justice, love, and virtue, and self-knowledge
were the basis of his teachings. His logic placed particular emphasis on rational argument
and the quest for general definitions. Through the writings of Plato, and of Plato's pupil,
Aristotle, Socrates had a profound effect on the entire subsequent course of Western
speculative thought.
Adapted from ‘Socrates’, Microsoft(R) Encarta® 96 Encyclopedia. © 1993–1995 Microsoft Corporation.

Worksheet 5.1 (continued)
Sample Text 5.3

Text type ___________________________________________________
Social purpose _______________________________________________
Major influences on the development of Western European universities
Modern colleges and universities evolved from Western European institutions of the Middle
Ages. However, these were greatly influenced by types of higher learning which existed in
Greece and in the Middle and Far East for more than a thousand years before that.
The Middle Ages brought great development in Western European universities. Because
Latin was used for teaching throughout Europe, from the 9th Century students were able to
migrate to various places where noted teachers lectured on subjects of particular interest to
them. This led to the growth of specialised centres of learning. By the 12th century the
University of Paris was established as the center for theology and philosophy and the
University of Bologna in Italy was the center for the study of law. Students migrating from the
same country banded together into so-called nations for mutual aid and protection. From
these communities developed the concept of the college (Latin collegium, ‘society’).
The Renaissance had a powerful effect on universities. Italian universities helped to transmit
Renaissance humanistic ideas to northern European institutions. Bologna was the great
17th–century center for medicine and biology. The University of Leiden in Holland,
established in 1575, attracted students from all over the Continent to investigate the new
sciences. The University of Salamanca, in Spain, founded about 1230, led to the
establishment of institutions in Central and South America in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The Reformation also influenced universities. After its beginning in 1517, by Martin Luther,
who was a professor at the University of Wittenberg, Luther’s students went on to teach in all
parts of Germany, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe. The Calvinist Reformation in
Switzerland involved the University of Geneva, whose faculty and students helped to spread
the doctrines of the theologian John Calvin throughout Europe and North America.
The post-Industrial Revolution era, with the growth of the middle class, provided much of the
impetus for expanding European higher education. During the 19th century, German
universities became influential sources of scholarly research and examples of academic
freedom. Consequently, many students from foreign countries travelled to study in Germany.
During the 19th Century many British institutions known as ‘red brick universities’ were
founded. Unlike the universities of Oxford and Cambridge (founded in the 12th and 13th
Centuries, respectively), which represented the Establishment, social prestige, and relatively
conservative views, these institutions attracted students and faculty with advanced social
and political ideas.
Throughout the 19th century and up to the present, college and university students reflected
and generated radical and revolutionary thought. Student protests often occurred because of
restrictive and repressive measures by administration and government authorities, as in

czarist Russia, and in Germany during the 1920s and '30s. Similarly, reactions to political
events as well as to underlying issues of academic freedom caused widespread student
demonstrations in the United States and France during the late 1960s.
The past 1000 years have seen enormous development of higher learning in Europe and
beyond. This development has been greatly influenced by events such as the Renaissance,
the Reformation and the Industrial Revolution. Universities have, in turn, had a great
influence on the societies around them. Western universities of today owe their culture to a
long tradition which comes not only from within Europe but from throughout the world.
Adapted from ‘Colleges and Universities,’ Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 96 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993–1995 Microsoft
Corporation. All rights reserved. (c) Funk & Wagnalls Corporation.
Text structure
Most chronicle text types have three main stages:

– The Orientation/background stage introduces the person or event or concept and
gives information about when, where and why they are being written about. This
stage might also summarise previous historical events that are of significance and
that will make more meaningful the particular events that are chronicled in the
Record of Events Stage.
– The Record or Account of Events Stage records the events as they have unfolded
over time and, in historical accounts, explains the causes and effects of those
events. Generally, each paragraph in this stage refers to a segment of time within
the overall events. In biographies, this stage may also include descriptions of the
person’s work (for example, philosophy or publications) and of the time and place
they lived.
– The Evaluation/deduction stage draws out the significance of the people or events
which have been recorded. In longer texts, this stage may also summarise the main
stages.
Organisation of information in chronicle texts
Information in the main stage of all chronicle texts is organised in time, that is,
chronologically. Because of this, timelines are useful frameworks for taking notes and
preparing to write chronicle texts. However, because historical accounts include
information about causes and effects of events, these need to be represented within the
timeline as well. In addition, information in historical accounts often tends to be divided
into segments of time (for example, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance). This kind of
organisation is a move towards the kind of organisation that is used in explanations (see
Topic 7). The timeline on Worksheet 5.2 shows how information is organised within the
first section of the Account of Events stage of Text 5.3. The activity gives you the
opportunity to use a timeline to extract information from the rest of the text.

Worksheet 5.2
The timeline below shows how information is typically organised within Historical
Accounts. Complete the timeline with information from Text 5.3.
Major influences on the development of Western European universities

Time Events + cause/effect
MIDDLE AGES GREAT DEVELOPMENTS IN WEST. UNIS
th
9 Century Latin throughout Europe migration of students growth of
specialised centres of learning.
th
By 12 Century Uni. of Paris (theology & philosophy; Uni of Bologna (law) Migrating
students formed nations for mutual aid.
RENAISSANCE POWERFUL EFFECT ON UNIVERSITIES
REFORMATION

POST-INDUSTRIAL
REV. ERA
TH
19 CENTURY
PRESENT
Grammatical features of chronicle texts
Because the Chronicle text types all function to retell events in the past, they share a
number of grammatical features. These include
⇒ Verbs in the past tense;
⇒ Action verbs (especially when the text chronicles concrete events);
⇒ Expressions of time in theme (first) position of many sentences and paragraphs.
In addition to these features, historical accounts also include
⇒ Expressions of cause and effect which usually makes the language more abstract.

⇒ VERBS IN THE PAST TENSE
The three tenses which are mainly used to represent the past in chronicle texts are:
– The simple past tense: This is the main tense used in chronicle text types. The
simple past tense is used to describe events which are complete at the time at
which the text is written. The simple past is usually constructed by adding -ed on the
end of verbs (for example, worked; lived). There are, however, many irregular verbs
which change in different ways (for example, teach/taught; be/was).
– The present perfect tense: This tense is used to describe events which began or
happened in the past but which have present-time relevance (i.e. at the time of
writing), For example: Socrates' work has affected a great many people throughout
history; She has finished the experiment. The present perfect tense consists of two
verb parts – the first is an auxiliary (has, have) and the second is called the past
participle, which is often the same form as the simple past tense of regular verbs
(for example, They have started…), but sometimes the -en form, or something
different (compare: He gave her the report yesterday à He has given her the
report).
– The past perfect tense: This tense is used to describe events which happened in
the past and were of relevance when another event (also in the past) occurred (e.g.
Share prices had dropped by the time investors got the news). The past perfect
tense is formed the same way as the present perfect except that the auxiliary verb is
in the simple past form (e.g. They had started...).
Language Note: Simple Past Tense versus Present Perfect Tense

The difference in meaning between these verb tenses lies in the intended focus.
Typically, the Simple Past Tense is used when you are straightforwardly recounting a
past event, and the time (or time frame) when it happened is expected or important:
He went over to her house and gave her the report yesterday à [I'm telling you
about something that happened, and at what time in the past]).
When the focus is on WHY you are talking about the past event, you use the Present
Perfect to indicate the relevance of this past event to the present moment:
He has given her the report (already). [àI'm telling you this because it has
relevance right now: the giving of the report has already occurred.]
The "perfect" has to do with what linguists call "aspect": when the aspect of the verb is
completed, we say it's the "perfect tense", and if the aspect of the verb is on-going while
the speaker is speaking or points to the future, we call it the "present continuous tense",
as in:
He is giving her the report (right now).[ßAs I'm speaking]

She is leaving for Paris (tomorrow). [ßA future plan has been made]

The present perfect can be combined with the simple past tense:
He has given her the report. He went over to her house yesterday and gave it to
her.
Note the change in focus from the first sentence (talking about present relevance) to the
second sentence (recounting the past, with a time frame). This example also nicely
illustrates that time and tense do not have a neat, straightforward connection: tense
(and aspect) are used for meanings other than just indicating the time of the action.
⇒ EXPRESSIONS OF EVALUATION
Chronicle texts, like many other texts, are often coloured to influence the reader to form a
particular point of view about the topic. Judgements may be explicit or implicit.
– Most of the explicit evaluation is made in the final stage of the text (Evaluation
stage). An example of a judgement of Socrates in the final stage of Text 5.2 is
‘Socrates had a profound effect on the entire subsequent course of Western
speculative thought’. This judgement is explicit in the sense that the writer is clearly
judging or evaluating the subject that is being discussed, and seems logical
because it is supported by the events which the writer has selected to include in the
record of events.
Explicit judgements are often made using adjectives (for example, bold, profound),
however, any word can be coloured with judgement.
– Hidden or implicit evaluation may be made throughout the text. Two important
ways of making an implicit positive judgement are:
1. Selecting only events which the author thinks will be viewed positively by the
reader.
2. Using words which have come to be viewed positively or negatively in a

particular culture. For example, in Text 5.2, Socrates attitude is described as
‘unorthodox’. This term has come to be viewed positively in contemporary
Western culture.
⇒ EXPRESSIONS OF TIME
Time is a very important concept in chronicle texts. One way of organising these texts
around time is to place the references to time at the beginning of sentences and
paragraphs (in theme position). This makes the time setting the starting point of the
information which is to come. There a number of ways of expressing time. Some common
time expressions are:

o Dependent clauses of time
A dependent clause is one which cannot stand meaningfully on its own but needs to be
combined with another clause. Dependent clauses begin with a conjunction of time such
as when, as, after or before. In the following sentence, the dependent clause of time is
highlighted.
When Socrates proposed only to pay a small fine, the jury was angered.
o Time phrases
Time phrases, or prepositional phrases can express relationships of time between events
and also the duration of events. Prepositional phrases begin with a preposition (for
example, in, on, during, after, before) and are followed by a date, time or other noun
group.
o Time as a verb
Time verbs are used with action verbs to express smaller phases of time within larger
segments of time. Some common time verbs in the past tense are: continued, began,
started, stopped. The action verb which follows time verbs is often (but not always) used
in its infinitive form (for example, The alphabet continued to grow) or in its -ing form (for
example, The alphabet continued growing).
o Time as a noun group
Time is expressed within a noun group in more sophisticated chronicle texts such as
historical accounts. Some common time nouns are period, stage, phase, era as well as
specific eras such as the Renaissance and the 19th Century. Expressing time as a noun
allows the writer to group events into segments of time and also to add information about
cause and effect to the clause.
Sample Text 5.2 has been annotated to show grammatical features which are common to
all chronicle text types.

Sample Text 5.2
Implicit
Socrates judgement
Socrates was a Greek philosopher who lived in the fifth century BC.
Time at Socrates profoundly affected Western philosophy through his influence on the
beginnings of philosopher and writer, Plato.
sentences and
paragraphs Socrates was born in Athens in about 470 BC. He was the son of a sculptor and a
midwife. Socrates received the regular elementary education in literature, music, and
gymnastics. Later he familiarized himself with the rhetoric and dialectics of the
Sophists, the speculations of the Ionian philosophers, and the general culture of
Periclean Athens.
Initially, Socrates followed the craft of his father. Between 432 BC and 422 BC he
served as an infantryman with conspicuous bravery in the Peloponnesian War with
Sparta. After the war he spent the greater part of his mature life in the marketplace and
Time public places of Athens, engaging in dialogue and argument with anyone who would
phrase listen or who would submit to interrogation.
Although Socrates was a patriot and deeply religious, many of his contemporaries
disliked his unorthodox attitude toward the Athenian state and the established religion.
In 399 BC he was charged with neglecting the gods of the state,

introducing new divinities and corrupting the morals of the young. Implicit
judgement
According to Plato’s Apology, the defense made by Socrates at his trial
was a bold vindication of his whole life. He was condemned to die, although the vote
was carried by only a small majority. When Socrates proposed only to pay a small
Time
fine because of his value to the state as a man with a philosophic mission, the jury
clause
was so angered by this offer that it voted by an increased majority for the death penalty.
Socrates' friends planned his escape from prison, but he preferred to

comply with the law and die for his cause. verbs in past
tense
His last day was spent with his friends and admirers, and in
Time in the
the evening he calmly fulfilled his sentence by drinking a cup
noun group
of hemlock according to a customary procedure of execution.
Socrates contribution to philosophy was essentially ethical in character. Belief in

a purely objective understanding of such concepts as justice, love, and virtue, and self-
knowledge were the basis of his teachings. His logic placed particular emphasis on
rational argument and the quest for general definitions. Socrates had a great effect on
the entire subsequent course of Western speculative thought. Explicit
judgement

⇒ CAUSE AND EFFECT (IN HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS)
While time expressions are important in historical accounts, time is not as obviously
foregrounded. This is because events are linked both in time and cause and effect. Often
time is compressed into the noun group so that cause and effect can also be expressed.
There are many language resources available for linking events in cause and effect
relationships. Some important ones are listed in the following table. (You can find more
information about cause and effect expressions in Topic 7.)
Table 5.2 Ways of expressing cause and effect

Language resource Examples Examples in text
Within the noun group The influence (of..) The Renaissance had a powerful effect on
universities.
The effect (of..)
The cause (of..)
The result (of..)
Verb caused The Reformation also influenced universities.
created
resulted in
led to
Prepositional phrase as a result of. Student protests and riots often occurred
because of restrictive measures by
because of. government authorities.
due to.
in response to.
Conjunction consequently o German universities became influential

sources of research. Consequently,
therefore students travelled to study in Germany.
as a result o Because Latin was used for teaching,
because students migrated to different places.
so
Adapted from Humphrey, S 1996, Exploring Literacy in School Geography, DSP, Sydney.

The following two paragraphs from Text 5.3 have been annotated to show how time and
cause and effect work together. Cause and effect as verb
The Middle Ages brought great development in Western European universities. Because
Latin was used for teaching throughout Europe, from the 9th Century students were able to
migrate to various places where noted teachers lectured on subjects of particular interest to
them. This led to the growth of specialised centres of learning. By the 12th century the
University of Paris was established as the center for theology and philosophy and the
University of Bologna in Italy was the center for the study of law. Students migrating from the
same country banded together into so-called nations for mutual aid and protection. From
these communities developed the concept of the college (Latin collegium, ‘society’).
The Renaissance had a powerful effect on universities. Italian universities helped to

transmit Renaissance humanistic ideas to northern European institutions. Bologna was the
Time within great 17th–century center for medicine and biology. The University of Leiden in Holland,
the noun established in 1575, attracted students from all over the Continent to investigate the new
group sciences. The University of Salamanca, in Spain, founded about 1230, led to the
establishment of institutions in Central and South America in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Time
phrases
Table 5.3 Summary of grammatical features of chronicle texts

Key language resources Examples from Sample Texts
verbs – past tense Socrates’ friends planned his escape.
Time expressed through:
§ Time phrases During the 19th century many universities were founded.
§ Time clauses When Socrates proposed to only pay a small fine.., the jury
was angered.
§ Time nouns The past 1000 years have seen enormous development of
higher learning.
§ Time verbs For the next 27 years he continued to teach
Time foregrounded at His last day was spent with his friends and admirers.
beginning of sentences.
Cause and effect expressed
as
§ conjunction Because Latin was used for teaching, students came.
§ Phrase Because of the use of Latin for teaching, students came.
§ Verb The use of Latin for teaching caused students to come.
§ Noun The cause of students coming was the teaching of Latin.
Expressions of evaluation Socrates contribution to philosophy was essentially ethical…
Adapted from Coffin, C 1996, Exploring Literacy in School History, DSP, Sydney.

Worksheet 5.3
Grammatical features of chronicle texts
Annotate the following paragraphs from text 5.3, labelling examples of:
Verbs in the past tense or – simple past

referring to past time
– present perfect
– past perfect
Expressions of evaluation
Expressions of time – dependent clauses of time
– time phrases
– time as a verb
– time within the noun group
Expressions of cause and effect – cause conjunctions
– cause as phrase
– cause as verb
– cause within the noun group
The Reformation also influenced universities. After its beginning in 1517, by Martin Luther,
who was a professor at the University of Wittenberg, his students went on to teach in all
parts of Germany, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe. The Calvinist Reformation in
Switzerland involved the University of Geneva, whose faculty and students helped to
spread the doctrines of the theologian John Calvin throughout Europe and North America.
The post-Industrial Revolution era, with the growth of the middle class, provided much of
the impetus for expanding European higher education. During the 19th century, German
universities became influential sources of scholarly research and examples of academic
freedom. Consequently, many students from foreign countries travelled to study in
Germany. During the 19th Century many British institutions known as ‘red brick
universities’ were founded. Unlike the universities of Oxford and Cambridge (founded in
the 12th and 13th Centuries, respectively), which represented the Establishment, social
prestige, and relatively conservative views, these institutions attracted students and
faculty with advanced social and political ideas.

TOPIC 6 (Weeks 6 & 8)
Comparative reports: our third genre
Note that there is no lecture in Week 7 (Research Week) and the

Week 8 lecture is pre-recorded (Monday is a Public Holiday).
Culture Strand – Learning and the academic context
Introduction
In this topic we will examine some of the readings that are relevant to your second
assignment—writing and analysing a comparative report on the issue of what counts as
learning in different university disciplines. See p. 291 for Assignment Question.
This assignment requires you to compare two different academic disciplines in terms of
their learning style. This may include comparisons of the kinds of sources that are used in
different disciplines. For example, medicine often uses a textbook as the main source in
academic subjects, while linguistics may rely more on the research writing of academics
published in scholarly journals. Types of sources might differ within disciplines too,
depending on the specific subject, the year the students are in etc.
Preparing for the topic
One thing that seems to be common to all academic disciplines is the recognition that
“understanding the discipline involves understanding their discourses” (Hyland, 2000: 2).
This means that students within a particular discipline need to familiarise themselves with
the ways in which their discipline is talked about. What they also need to realise is that
these discourses also play a constitutive role – that is, they also produce these
disciplines. As Hyland states:
...discourse is socially constitutive rather than simply socially shaped;

writing is not just another aspect of what goes on in the disciplines, it is
seen as producing them (2000: 3)
Another important point to remember is that one crucial difference between the disciplines
is how they write. They make different appeals to background knowledge, have different
means of establishing truth, and different ways of engaging with readers. This may lead to
the view that there is only one way of operating within a disciplinary group and that
discourse communities are ‘monolithic and unitary’. This, however, is clearly not the case.
Discourse communities are composed of individuals with diverse experiences and levels
of expertise, e.g. students, research assistants, professors, applied scientists. Members of
a discourse group may also have different commitments to the group and different levels

of influence. In short, the different disciplines are constituted by personal, interpersonal,
institutional and sociocultural factors.
The readings that will help to guide your research and writing of the second assignment
are given in the Readings section of the Subject Notes. They are:
Coffin, C & Hewings, A 2003, ‘Writing for different disciplines’, in C Coffin, MJ Curry, S Goodman,
A Hewings, TM Lillis & J Swan, Teaching Academic Writing: A Toolkit for Higher Education,
Routledge, Oxford, pp45-72.
Paxton, M 2007, ‘Tensions between textbook pedagogy and the literacy practices of the
disciplinary community: a study of writing in first year economics, Journal of English for
Academic Purposes, 6, 109-125.
Woodward-Kron, R 2004, ‘Discourse communities’ and ‘writing apprenticeship’: an investigation of
these concepts in undergraduate Education students’ writing, Journal of English for Academic
Purposes, 3, 139-161.
As with all academic reading and listening, it will help if you prepare for the topic with
some research and prediction. The questions on Worksheet 6.1 provide a guide for
reflecting on your own prior understandings of key terms and concepts. The worksheet
also enables you to elaborate on these understandings after completing the reading
activities and listening to the Topic 6 lecture.
Worksheet 6.1
Preparing for the topic

1. Make notes of your present understandings of some important terms and concepts
in the ‘Present Understanding’ column below.
2. After you have completed the readings and lecture write notes of the
understandings you have developed in the ‘after…’ column.
Present understandings After completing reading and

listening
Discourse community
Writing apprenticeship
Heteroglossia /
monoglossia
Pedagogic genre /
discourse

Reading about disciplines and learning
Worksheet 6.2
Preparation
For this exercise you should choose one of the recommended articles in the Readings
and prepare your thoughts on the content for the next tutorial. Remember to follow the
reading strategies that work best for you, including how you read the text and how you
take notes on the text. The following are suggestions on how you could complete this
activity.
Skim-reading
Read the Abstract, Introduction, Conclusion and topic sentences for each section.
Which parts of the article will be most useful for your purposes of comparing the literacy
practices of different disciplines?
____________________________________________________________________
Reading for detail and note-taking
Read through the sections you have noted above and use the information to design a
note-taking outline to record the key points of the article. Remember to include reference
details, especially the page numbers where you take useful information from.
Critical reflection
How do the perspectives on learning presented in this article relate to your own
understanding of learning?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Language strand
Comparative reports
Social purpose
Comparative Reports are very similar to the other kinds of Information Reports which we
considered in Topic 3. Like the information reports, comparative reports function to
describe features of concrete or abstract phenomena. However, comparative reports also

function to bring features of two or more phenomena into a relationship of comparison
and/or contrast. This requires an ability to generalise in order to find categories of features
which can be compared. It also requires students to select information which can be
brought into a relationship of comparison or contrast.
The language which is used to compare and contrast in comparative reports is also used
within other academic texts. In particular, persuasive texts such as Expositions and
Discussions often require students to compare and contrast while making a judgement
about phenomena.
Stages in Comparative Reports (Staging/ Organisation)
Comparative reports have two main stages and one optional stage. These are:
⇒ The General Statement or Identification stage defines and provides general

information about the phenomena. Characteristics which are to be compared are
previewed in a general or specific way.
⇒ The Comparative Description stage functions to give more detailed information

about the characteristics which are similar or different.
⇒ Some comparative reports have a Summary or Deduction stage. Deductions are

used to make judgements about the information in the report or to comment upon its
significance.
Text 6.1 Sample comparative report
The Humanities and Social Sciences
[General statement of identification]

The social sciences and the humanities are two of the major academic discipline areas.
Peters (1985) has described the social sciences and the humanities as different cultures
which can be distinguished in terms of their substance, methodology and argumentation.
[Comparative descriptions]
The first area of contrast is in the substance of the two discipline groups. Humanities
subjects are primarily concerned with studying human experience. This could involve
historical events, language and other forms of communication responding to humanistic
media and setting values. On the other hand, the social sciences describe the collective
behaviour of human beings from a number of perspectives. These perspectives include
anthropological, economic, legal, political and sociological. Some subjects within the social
sciences are closely related to those in the humanities; however, each would refer to
different sources for their evidence.
Another area of contrast is in the methodology of the disciplines. In the humanities, the
methods of interpretation are the most commonly practiced. There are a number of modes of

interpretation available. One mode is to use a relevant theory (for example, Marxist Theory)
to interpret the texts which are read. Another, which is often used in the study of literature, is
to base the interpretation on a coordinated individual response. In the social sciences,
theoretical interpretation is also important, however, researchers are primarily interested in
observing people in ordinary social phenomena and events. This observation is rarely strictly
neutral, especially in subjects such as sociology, However, in some subjects, such as
psychology, empirical methods and inductive procedures are used.
All academic argumentation depends on being able to argue points convincingly. The
humanities and social sciences both depend on having grounds for the claims which are
made. Both also depend on satisfactory warrants (or implicit shared understandings) to
relate the grounds to the claim. However, the two discipline groups differ in the nature of the
warrants. In the humanities, warrants are, on the whole, quite general. This means that they
involve some common understanding or principle. These arguments are usually used in the
discussion of social, ethical and aesthetic issues. Warrants in the social sciences,
particularly in professionally oriented subjects, tend to rely more on specialised warrants. In
order to understand the relationship between the grounds and the claim in subjects such as
law and administration, it is necessary to have some specialised knowledge.
[Deduction]
The above features, substance, methodology and argumentation are some of the things
which make the humanities different from the social sciences. ‘They affect the intellectual
character of each discipline and the way subject matter is handled, discussed and argued
about’ (p. 11). It is important that students are aware of these broad descriptions as well as
the particular expectations of their subject and lecturers.
References
Peters, P. (1985). Strategies for student writers: A guide to writing essays, tutorial
papers, exam papers and reports.. Milton, Qld: John Wiley and Sons.
Organisation of information
Organising information for the purposes of comparing is an important step in the move
from description to analysis.
Information within the main stage of comparative reports can be organised in more than
one way. In general this will depend on whether categories for comparison are common to
both phenomena. The following diagrams illustrate two ways of organising information
within these texts.

Organisation Pattern 1 Organisation Pattern 2
Description of Phenomenon 1
Phenomenon 1 features 1-n Feature 1 Phenomenon 2
Description of Phenomenon 1
Phenomenon 2 features1-n Feature 2
Phenomenon 2
Phenomenon 1
Feature 3
Phenomenon 2
Phenomenon 1
Feature 4
Phenomenon 2
Many comparative reports at university level will require you to rearrange the information
you find in information reports similar to pattern 2. In this case you will need to find and
name the features of the phenomena which are to be compared or contrasted. To do this
you will need to use abstract terms. These abstract terms in Text 6.1 are substance,
methodology and argumentation.
Features shared with other reports
Comparative reports use many of the same language resources as other kinds of
Information Reports. These include:
o The use of specialised or technical terms which are not in everyday use;
o Generalised and abstract nouns to refer to phenomena;
o Expanded noun groups to describe and classify phenomenon;
o Relating and action verbs; and
o Topic or subtopic as theme of paragraphs, sentences and clauses.
More information about these features can be found in Topic 3.
Expressions of comparison and contrast
There are a great many resources in English for linking information by comparison or
contrast. Table 6.1 summarises these resources and gives examples based on Text 6.1.
Examples of these expressions in Text 6.1 are shown.

Comparative relationships tend to be expressed as nouns and verbs when the
relationship is more general, for example in topic sentences or previews, e.g. from Text
6.1 where the comparative relationship is expressed within an expanded noun group:
The first area of contrast is in the substance of the two disciplines.
the first area of contrast
Pointer Numerative Noun Qualifier
Resources for expressing more specific comparative relationships include conjunctions

and prepositional phrases, e.g. (from Text 6.1)
On the other hand, the social sciences describe the collective behaviour of human
beings from a number of perspectives.
Table 6.1 summarises the various ways of expressing comparison.
Table 6.1 Summary of comparative expressions

Language Resource Examples Examples in sentences
More Noun groups the difference/ contrast The first area of contrast is in the
general the similarities substance of the two discipline groups.
One difference between the

humanities and the social science
is....
Verbs resembles The humanities differs from the social

compares (with)/ differs sciences in the way they argue.
(from)
contrasts (with)
Adjectives different The humanities are different from the

similar social sciences.
Phrases in contrast to In contrast to many humanities

subjects, the social sciences rely on
specialised warrants.
Conjunctions similarly Both the humanities and the social

between sentences likewise sciences rely on warrants. However,
in contrast the warrants in the social sciences are
however specialised instead of general.
More Conjunctions within whereas The humanities rely on specialised

specific sentences while warrants whereas the social sciences
as rely on specialised warrants.
however
Adapted from Humphrey, S 1996, Exploring the Language of School Geography, DSP Resources.

Worksheet 6.3
Analysing a comparative report
Read through Text 6.2 and look up any terms you are not familiar with.
Sample Text 6. 2 Karratha and Roebourne

Karratha and Roebourne are two towns in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Both towns are approximately 1500 kilometres north west of Perth near the coast.
Although they are situated in very similar biophysical environments, the two
communities differ greatly.
The main difference between Karratha and Roebourne concerns the purposes for
which they were established. Karratha was planned as a mining town in 1968 to
help house the workforce of a mining company. Roebourne, on the other hand, was
founded in 1866 as a service centre for the pastoral and pearling industries.
Roebourne has a much stronger rural identity than Karratha.
Karratha and Roebourne are also different in terms of their size and demographic
characteristics. Karratha has a population of about 11,000 people whereas
Roebourne’s population is only about 1,500. Most of the people who live in Karratha
are young white men who come to the town for a short period to work. In
Roebourne, however, there are approximately 800 Aboriginal people living in the
town. Most of the Aborigines of Roebourne are under 39 years of age. This is
different from the usual pattern of white settlement but has a lot in common with
Karratha. Karratha has a large young population because of the high wages paid to
workers in this hot isolated township. Roebourne’s pattern, like many other
Aboriginal communities, is largely due to the poorer health and shorter life
expectancy of Aborigines compared with other Australians.
The distribution of wealth is another contrast between Karratha and Roebourne.

There are few patterns to the distribution of wealth in the Karratha community.
Workers in the development industries are well paid and as the town was built
before workers arrived the standard of housing is very similar. In contrast, the
wealth is very unevenly distributed in Roebourne. The white population is generally
much better off than the Aborigines and the Aborigines have the highest rate of
unemployment in the shire. In common with Aboriginal communities across
Australia, the Aborigines of Roebourne live in government housing and most of their
income is welfare payments.

Tasks:
1. Label the stages of the text.
2. Draw a diagram to represent the organisation of information within the text.
3. Annotate the text in terms of the following features (you may use labels,
highlighting, underlining, circling or other symbols to identify the features but you
must make a key to indicate the symbols you use).
⇒ the abstract terms used to name the features which are compared or contrasted.
⇒ text and paragraph previews.
⇒ expressions of comparison and contrast.
4. Categorise the expressions of comparison and contrast by writing them under the
headings in the following table. You do not need to write an expression more than
once.
Noun Verb Adjective Phrase Conjunction

TOPIC 7 (Week 9)
Explanations: our fourth academic genre
Culture strand
Introduction
In the topics of this subject we have been learning to use language in ways which are
valued in the Western academic tradition. The first important step we made was to learn
how to organise and store our knowledge in hierarchical systems, called taxonomies. The
second step used in this tradition to construct knowledge is to relate concepts to each
other in different ways (for example, explanation and comparison). In this topic we will
continue to explore some important resources for relating concepts in cause and effect
relationships. Together with historical accounts, the main texts we use to explain how and
why things happen are called explanations.
We will be reading an article called ‘Some grammatical problems in Scientific English’ by

the linguist, M.A.K. Halliday. This article is important because it describes the
development of the kind of language which makes it possible to analyse phenomena by
bringing them into relationships of cause and effect and to construct logical arguments.
These aspects of scientific language are shared by all academic disciplines nowadays
and cause difficulties for many students. Understanding what is going on in the language
may help you.
In the language strand we will explore the language of explanations in a range of subject
areas. This description draws on the concepts of Halliday’s article and on research
conducted by the Metropolitan East Disadvantaged Schools Program
(DSP 1996).
Reading an article
The article you will be reading in this topic is:
Halliday, M. A. K. (1990). Some grammatical problems in scientific English. Australian

Review of Applied Linguistics, Series S (6), 13-37.
As with all academic reading, it will help if you prepare for the reading with some research
and prediction. Worksheet 7.1 provides a guide for reflecting on your own prior
understandings of key terms from the reading and for predicting the content and purpose
of the article from clues given by its title and context.

Worksheets 7.2–7.3 provide activities to guide you in reading the article, firstly for the
general meaning (for example, survey reading) and then for detailed information.
Worksheet 7.4 provides guiding questions to help you to reflect on the use of language in
your own discipline area and to assist you in contributing to discussion.
Worksheet 7.1
Pre-reading activities
Prior understandings
1. Make notes of your own understandings of the terms and then look in a dictionary
for the meanings.
Term or phrase Present understandings Dictionary meaning

superordinate
lexical
ambiguity
nominalisation
grammatical metaphor
Prediction
2. Why do you think the article was written? Tick the purpose(s) which you think apply.
(a) To give a history of how the language of science has developed.
(b) To describe some recent achievements in the field of science.
(c) To describe characteristics of the language of science.
(d) To compare scientific language to other specialised uses of language.
(e) To help people understand why scientific English may be difficult to read.

3. What do you know about the author of this article? Is this person an authority in the
field of language or of science?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Worksheet 7.2
Survey reading
There are 10 sections in the article – the abstract; the introduction; seven headings used
to discuss characteristics of scientific English; a concluding section. Before reading,
number each part.
Below is a brief outline of the function of each section of the article. However, the sections
are not in the correct order. Reorder the outlines by placing a number (1–10) in the space
provided.
________ describes the problems which may arise in understanding technical

taxonomies.
________ describes technical grammar.
________ describes how writers define technical terms.
________ gives a brief overview of the article.
________ describes how information is packaged in scientific writing.
________ gives a background discussion of the issue: the difficulties many people
experience in reading scientific English.
________ describes how expressions in scientific writing may be ambiguous.
________ concludes the account and discusses ‘complexity’ of scientific language

with implications for the learner and teacher.
________ introduces, defines and explains grammatical metaphor.
________ discusses the tendency of some scientific writers to make semantic leaps.
Written response and discussion
The questions in Worksheet 7.3 provide guiding questions to help you to reflect on the use
of language in your own discipline area and to assist you in contributing to discussion.

Worksheet 7.3 Preparing for the Tutorial
Halliday (1990) describes some characteristics of scientific language. To what extent do
these features exist within the discourse of your own subject area?
In preparation for your tutorial, find an example of a short text from a discipline you are
familiar with and annotate the text to show examples of the features which Halliday
describes (OR you can show their absence). Be prepared to discuss your text with a
classmate.
Language strand
Explanations
Social purpose
There are two kinds of knowledge constructed by explanations:
1. knowledge about how things happen; and
2. knowledge about why things happen.
The explanations which construct knowledge about how things happen are called
sequential explanations. There are a number of explanations which construct
knowledge about why things happen, the causes and/or effects of something. Some of the
most useful are causal, factorial or consequential explanations. These are shown in
Table 7.1.
Table 7.1
Single sequence Multiple sequences
Explaining how things Sequential

happen explanation
Explaining why things Causal explanation o Factorial explanation (causes)

happen
o Consequential explanation
(effects)
Some explanations deal with a single process or cause. These are often found within
other text types such as Reports and Expositions. Others deal with multiple causes and/or
multiple effects. These can also be found within other texts but are also commonly found
alone.

Worksheet 7.4
Skim read Texts 7.1–7.5. Name each sample text type according to the criteria given in
Table 7.1.
Sample Text 7.1 Reasons for population movements in Australia

Text type:
Identification In Australia large numbers of people move from one place to another to live.
of outcome While the majority of moves occur within the same town or city, many people
move from the rural areas to the cities and others move out of cities to
(preview of
suburban areas or towns. Some of the main reasons for this are employment,
factors)
cheaper housing and urban renewal.
Factor 1 The first reason for population movement is employment. In many rural areas
of Australia recession and drought have caused severe hardships in the late
(explanation
1980s and early 1990s. As a result many farmers are making losses, not
sequence)
profits. This has led to an increase in unemployment as many services in rural
areas have been closed down. Consequently, many people are leaving the
rural areas and moving to larger towns or cities in search of work.
Affordable housing is another important cause of population movement. In

Factor 2 recent years more and more higher-income people are moving into the inner-
city areas of many Australian cities and renovating the older houses. As the
(explanation
houses are renovated, their value increases. This leads to an increase in the
sequence)
house values and land rates of other houses in the area. Consequently some
of the older low-income residents can no longer afford to live there. They are
therefore forced to sell their houses and move elsewhere.
A third reason for people moving is urban renewal. During the 1970s there
Factor 3
was a trend towards building larger houses in the suburbs rather than living
(explanation closer to the city itself. This led to an expansion of the suburbs, which often
sequence) required large areas of land. This urban sprawl resulted in many problems,
including lack of public transport, pollution and lack of basic services. In the
late 1980s the government has tried to attract people to move back closer to
the city centres. They have therefore encouraged medium and high density
housing. As a result more town houses and units have been built in many
areas.
Deduction/ While the above are not the only reasons for population movement, they do
Summary account for significant migration, to both rural and urban areas. This
movement has great impacts on those who are moving, the places they leave
and the places they move to.
Adapted from DSP 1996, ‘Migration’ unit.

Sample Text 7.2 English as a global language
Text type: __________________________________________
General A language does not become a global language because of the size of its
identification vocabulary, or because it has been a vehicle of a great literature in the past,
or because it was once associated with a great culture or religion. These
are all factors which can motivate someone to learn a language, of course,
but none of them alone, or in combination, can ensure a language’s world
spread. Indeed, such factors cannot even guarantee survival as a living
language.
Explanation A language becomes an international language for one chief reason: the
sequence political power of its people – especially their military power. The
explanation is the same throughout history. Why did Greek become a
(cause and
language of international communication in the Middle East over 2,000
effect)
years ago? Not because of the intellects of Plato and Aristotle: the answer
lies in the swords and spears wielded by the armies of Alexander the Great.
Why did Latin become known throughout Europe? Ask the legions of the
Roman Empire. Why did Arabic come to be spoken so widely across
northern Africa and the Middle East? Follow the spread of Islam, carried
along by the force of the Moorish armies from the eighth Century. Why did
Spanish, Portuguese, and French find their way into the Americas, Africa
and the Far East? Study the colonial policies of the Renaissance kings and
queens, and the way these policies were ruthlessly implemented by armies
and navies all over the known world. The history of the global language can
be traced through the successful expeditions of its soldier/sailor
speakers….
From Crystal, D 1997, English as a Global Language.
Sample Text 7.3 Volcanic eruptions

Text type: ________________________________________
General Volcanic eruptions often occur at the boundaries of two colliding plates.
identification These plate boundaries are called subduction zones.
Explanation When the two plates collide, one plate is forced underneath the other.
sequence Because the plate moves downwards, it heats up. This heating creates
magma. A further build up of heat and pressure causes the magma to
(cause and
burst through the crust. This results in hot lava and gases being
effect)
released into the atmosphere along with rocks and smoke.
Adapted from DSP (1996) Exploring the Language of School Geography.

Sample Text 7.4 Centrifugal and axial-flow pumps
Text type: ________________________________________
The centrifugal pump is so called because the pressure increase within

General
its rotor due to centrifugal action is an important factor in its operation. In
identification
brief it consists of an impeller rotating within a case…
Fluid enters the impeller in the center portion, called the eye, flows
Explanation
outwardly, and is discharged around the entire circumference into a casing.
sequence
During flow through the rotating impeller the fluid receives energy from the
vanes, resulting in an increase in both pressure and absolute velocity.
(time)
Since a large part of the energy of the fluid leaving the impeller is kinetic, it
is necessary to reduce the absolute velocity and transform the large portion
of this velocity head into pressure head. This is accomplished in the volute
casing surrounding the impeller or in the diffuser vanes.
Sample Text 7.5 The impact of women on 19th Century Australia

Text type: ___________________________________
General The ‘First Fleet’ landed in what would one day be called Australia with 191
identif.(of cause/ women aboard. These women and those who followed them were to have
topic: Australian a great impact on Australian society. Women contributed to the social and
women) economic welfare of the emerging nation and also influenced the
(preview of
development of the Australian identity.
effects)
Effect 1 The first and most obvious influence of women was on the social welfare
of the colonies. Caroline Chisholm is an example of a woman who worked
Explanation
tirelessly to improve conditions for women.
sequence
In the early 1900s women were greatly outnumbered by men. As a result
(cause and
many unmarried women from England were given financial incentives to
effect)
immigrate. However, little thought was given to what to do with them once
they arrived. Consequently many suffered homelessness and
unemployment. Caroline Chisholm found jobs for female passengers, set
up an immigrants’ home and lobbied governments. This led to more
provisions being provided for the care and settlement of these women.
Effect 2 In the area of business, women were also influential. At a time when it was
considered ‘unladylike’ for a woman to be involved in commerce, women
Explanation
such as Elizabeth Macarthur and Mary Reibey proved them wrong. In
sequence
Elizabeth’s case her husband’s long absences and lack of trust in others
(cause and ensured that she alone would have to administer the vast Macarthur
effect) farms. The success with which she did this resulted in admiration and envy
from many businessmen. Mary Reibey’s energy and drive helped her to

overcome her convict origins and she too made a big impact in the field of
commerce. Her business ability led to great affluence and social standing.
Finally, the qualities displayed by many women in 19th Century have
Effect 3 helped to shape an Australian cultural identity. In an era dominated by

men and their opinions many women fought for and attained an identity.
Explanation This special identity of toughness and perseverance as well as
sequence compassion and caring is reflected in women from many different
(cause and backgrounds and fields. Margaret Catchpole epitomized all of these
effect) qualities.
Her sense of adventure, determination and perhaps romance led to

notoriety but later brought respect and admiration. These qualities with
compassion and caring enabled her to turn selflessly outwards to assist
others until finally, after assisting influenza victims she too succumbed and
died.
Deduction In conclusion it can be said that the women of the 19th century Australia
played a great part in building the country. The influence of women can be
seen in many areas including social welfare, business and commerce. In
addition the cultural identity of Australians has been greatly shaped by the
qualities displayed by women during this difficult period
From DSP 1997, Women in 19th Century unit.
Stages in Explanations (Staging/ Organisation)
Different kinds of explanation texts are staged in different ways. The stages are shown in
the above sample texts. Features shared by all kinds of explanations are:
o A General Statement or Identification stage which identifies the phenomenon to

be explained and provides general information about it.
o One or more Explanation sequences based either on time or on cause and effect.
o Longer explanations may also have a Summary or Deduction stage. Deductions

are used to make judgements about the information in the explanation or to
comment upon its significance.
Organisation of information in Explanations
Information within all explanations, can, at some level, be represented by a flow chart.
This flow chart may represent a process (sequential explanations) or a cause and effect
sequence. In factorial and consequential explanations, individual explanation sequences
are also classified according to some hierarchy (for example, importance).
Figures 7.1 and 7.2 illustrate two ways of organising information within explanations.

Figure 7.1 Organising events within sequential/causal explanations
Followed/ Followed/
caused by caused by
from Teaching Factual Writing, DSP, 1988, p. 70.
Figure 7.2 Organising events within factorial or consequential

explanations
Factor/ Event Event

Event causes causes
Consequence 2 3
1
1
Factor/
Consequence Event Event causes Event
causes
2 1 2 3
Factor/
Consequence Event
Event causes Event
causes
3 1 2 3
adapted from Teaching Factual Writing, DSP, 1988, p. 70.
Organising information within paragraphs of explanations
In earlier topics, we looked at some very important resources for organising information
within the paragraphs of academic texts. These include topic sentences or paragraph
previews and theme patterns. When writing explanations, particularly those which have
multiple causes and effects, it is very important to use topic sentences to preview each
explanation sequence. Topic sentences represent the information within the boxes in
Figure 7.2.
In order to represent each event as following logically from the previous event (either in a
time or cause and effect relationship) the information in the first part of a sentence is
typically linked to the information at the end of the preceding sentence.

Caroline Chisholm found jobs for female passengers, set up an immigrants’
home and lobbied governments. This(series of actions) led to more provisions
being provided for the care and settlement of these women.
So, in written texts, new information is presented at the end of a sentence and the
information that is presented at the beginning of a sentence is given (old) information, i.e.
information that has already been presented (usually in the previous sentence).
Figure 7.3 illustrates how this information pattern has been used in the Explanation
sequence of Text 7.4.
Figure 7.3 Theme rheme patterns within explanations

Given (old) information New information
Fluid enters the impeller in the center portion, called the eye, flows
outwardly, and is discharged around the entire circumference
into a casing.
During flow through the rotating impeller the fluid receives energy from the vanes, resulting in an
increase in both pressure and absolute velocity.
Since a large part of the energy of the it is necessary to reduce the absolute velocity and transform
fluid leaving the impeller is kinetic, the large portion of this velocity head into pressure head.
This is accomplished in the volute casing surrounding the impeller or

in the diffuser vanes.
Worksheet 7.5
1. Draw a diagram of the organisation of information within Text 7.3.

2. Use the table below to represent the flow of old/new information pattern within the
explanation sequence of Text 7.3.
Theme Rheme
Abstract nouns and nominalisation
Abstract nouns can be defined as nouns which refer to things which are not easily
observable, for example ‘knowledge’ and ‘criticism’. Many abstract terms are actually
formed through the process of changing verbs or adjectives into nouns—the process of
nominalisation.
Nominalisation is used very often in explanations. This is because explanations serve not
only to name events but also to relate them as causes or effects of other events.
Nominalisations help to summarise happenings so that they can be related easily to other
happenings. Here is an example of nominalisation used in Text 7.3.
Sentence 1 Because the plate moves downwards, it heats up.

(happening as verb)
Sentence 2 This heating creates magma.

(happening as noun)
Why use nominalisations?

o In sentence 1 the happening ‘heats up’, is given as a verb. This happening takes up a
whole clause. In sentence 2, however, the happening of this text is expressed as a
noun. This leaves room in the clause to build a relationship of cause and effect, that is,
to explain the result of the heating.
o A second effect of nominalisation is that it allows the information which is at the end of
Sentence 1 (in new position) to be picked up as ‘given’ information in the first position

of Sentence 2. This patterning of information helps the text to be cohesive and for the
explanation to unfold in a logical way.
The activities in Worksheet 7.6 give you practice at identifying and creating
nominalisations.
Worksheet 7.6
Abstract nouns and nominalisation

Build your knowledge of this field by working through the following tasks.
1. Review the notes on nominalisation. Underline or highlight examples of

nominalisations in Text 7.1.
2. Create nominalisations by changing the following verbs into nouns (Things) Hint:
remember that nouns can be premodified by a Pointer specifying the Thing as
identified or owned (or not) and they may also be described and/or evaluated.
verb nominalisation
log (the) logging
expose
move
erode
discover
expand
understand
begin
To create nominalisations:
1. Identify the verb (usually any verb EXCEPT a relating verb)
2. Change it into a noun
3. Describe it using some meaning already in the sentence, e.g.
The customer left because the food was cold

o verb = left;
o change verb to noun: left à departure
o describe the noun that was created: the customer’s departure

4. Having changed the verb into a noun we have to insert some other verb. Often the
most useful verb to insert is some form of the verb “to be”. Other useful verbs are
(some form of) the verb to have or (some form of) a verb expressing cause or effect,
e.g. cause; result in
The customer’s departure was because the food was cold
We can now make two further changes to the next part of the sentence:
5. Change the conjunction because into some other form, e.g. due to
6. Get rid of the second occurrence of the verb was
The customer’s departure was due to the food cold.

7. Finally, we need to make the sentence grammatically correct, in this case by changing
the word order:
The customer’s departure was due to the cold food
Another example:
The government has reduced the funding it provides to higher education in order to save
costs
1. Identify the verbs: has reduced; provides; save

2. Change to nouns: reduction; provision; savings
3. Describe the nouns created using available meanings:
government reduction
the provision of funding to higher education
cost savings
4. Insert some form of the verb to be
Government reduction in the provision of funding to higher education is in order to

cost savings
5. Change the conjunction in order to e.g. due to

Government reduction in the provision of funding to higher education is due to cost
savings.
This sentence is already grammatically correct, so no further changes are necessary.
A further example:
When people log rainforests, it can affect the climate seriously
1. Identify the verb(s): log; affect
2. Change verbs into nouns: logging; effect;

3. Describe the nouns created: rainforest logging; serious climatic effect
4. Insert a verb
Rainforest logging can have a serious climatic effect
or
Rainforest logging can cause serious climatic effects
Notice that one consequence of the nominalisation of this sentence is that it now seems
more objective because we have been able to omit people as the doers of the logging.
Activity
In the following texts, change the highlighted verbs into abstract nouns. You will have to
change other words in the text as well and you may even have to leave some words out.
Describe the effects of nominalisations on the texts you have changed.
1. When people log rainforests the soil is exposed to rain, wind and sunlight. In
addition, lots of trucks move across the soil and erode it.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
2. Hubble discovered that the galaxies keep expanding into space. Because of what
he discovered, we now understand the Universe and how it began quite
differently.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
3. If more rain falls, floods may happen more frequently because our dams may not
be able to store the increased water.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Expressions of cause and effect
There are a great many resources in English for linking information by cause and effect.
Table 7.2 summarises these resources and gives examples based on Text 7.1.

Table 7.2 Summary of cause and effect expressions
Expression Examples in written Examples in sentences
explanations
Conjunctions .... as........ Many people leave rural areas because they can't
.....because..... find employment.
…..so….
Consequently; Many people can't find employment. Therefore, they

Therefore; As a result leave the rural areas.
Prepositional .... because of... Many people leave rural areas because of
phrases ...... due to... unemployment.
....as a result of..
Verbs ...... leads to...... Unemployment leads to a large population movement

...... causes...... from rural areas.
...... results in......
Unemployment causes a large population movement
from rural areas.
Nouns One reason (for...) is... One reason for population movement from rural
One cause (of....) is.. areas is unemployment.
When cause and effect is expressed by conjunctions such as ‘so’ and ‘because’, the text
generally is more like spoken language than written academic language. This is because
the happenings are expressed as verbs in the two clauses linked by the conjunction. For
example:
I have a headache because I have to work so hard
verb conj. verb
When cause and effect is expressed as a verb or within the noun group, the writer is
forced to nominalise the happenings on either side. This makes the text appear more
abstract and academic. For example:
My headache is caused by my heavy workload

noun group verb noun group
Conjunctions which link events across sentences or even paragraphs (for example,
‘therefore’, ‘thus’, ‘consequently’) are important in organising information in the text. Unlike
conjunctions such as ‘so’ and ‘because’, they are associated with academic language.
The questions and tasks on Worksheet 7.7 give you practice at identifying and using
academic expressions of cause and effect.

Worksheet 7. 7
Expressions of cause and effect
1. Identify all the cause and effect expressions in Text 7.1. Write them under the
headings below.
Conjunction Prepositional phrase Verb Within the noun group
2. Can you notice a pattern in where the different expressions are used in the text?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Additional Explanation Texts with a Public Health Focus
Sample Text 7.6 How your immune system works
Text type: __________________________________________
General Every day you come into contact with germs, including bacteria and viruses.
identification A healthy immune system stops you getting sick from these germs.
The immune response is the way your body defends itself. It recognises
harmful bacteria, viruses and any other substances, also known as
antigens, when they enter your body.
Factor 1 When an antigen like the cold virus enters your body, your immune
Explanation seq. response first produces something called mucus. The mucus tries to flush
(cause & effect)
out the virus and stop more of it from entering the body.
Factor 2 Next, your immune response can send white blood cells to surround the
Explanation seq. virus to prevent more harm.
(cause and effect)
Lastly, it can produce special proteins called antibodies. Antibodies can lock
Factor 3
onto and destroy the virus.
Explanation seq.
(cause: purpose)
The immune system is at work all the time to keep us as healthy as
Deduction possible.

Sample Text 7.7 What are the connections between food insecurity and
health?
Text type: __________________________________________
General The Hunger in America 2014 study found that many households served by
identification the Feeding America® network of food banks include people coping with a
diet-related chronic disease. Fifty-eight percent of households reported
having at least one member with high blood pressure and 33 percent had at
least one member with diabetes.
The cycle of food insecurity and chronic disease begins when an individual
Explanation or family cannot afford enough nutritious food. The combination of stress
sequence and poor nutrition can make disease management even more challenging.
(causal) Further, the time and money needed to respond to these health conditions
strains the household budget, leaving little money for essential nutrition and
medical care. This causes the cycle to continue, increasing the risk of
worsening existing conditions. Many families experiencing food insecurity
often have several, if not all, compounding factors which makes maintaining
good health extremely difficult.
More than half (55%) of households served by the Feeding America

network reported having to use three or more coping strategies to deal with
tough financial choices. Some of these coping strategies may support one’s
health, but others that make sense in the short term can be detrimental to
health in the long term. This is particularly true in households with children
and among people who are already coping with a diet-related, chronic
disease.
Adapted from https://hungerandhealth.feedingamerica.org/understand-food-

insecurity/hunger-health-101/

TOPIC 8 (Weeks 10-11)
Persuasive essays: our fifth academic
genre
Language strand
Persuasive texts
Social purpose of critical and persuasive texts
Persuasive texts are the texts we use to argue a case and to critically analyse data. There
are a number of different types of persuasive texts which are used in the academic
context. Those which are included in this topic are texts which allow us to:
o persuade people to agree with one point of view and challenge points of view
(Analytical Exposition), and
o discuss issues, analytically evaluating them and making judgements from different
perspectives (Analytical Discussion)
Other persuasive texts include those which allow us to critically respond to the message
of other texts (Critical Response) and those which allow us to challenge other
perspectives on issues (Challenge). Figure 8.1 gives an overview of these texts.
Persuasive texts
Towards a critical stance

o Analytical Discussion o Critical Response
o Analytical Exposition o Challenge
Figure 8.1 An overview of persuasive texts
Authority and evidence
All persuasive texts contain evidence or data, which give their position or thesis credibility
and authority. Without this evidence the argument does not stand up and is therefore not
valued in the Western academic tradition.

Worksheet 8.1
Read through Texts 8.1 and 8.2 and identify the evidence which each draws on to give
authority to the point of view.
Sample Text 8.1 Example of an ‘Analytical Exposition’ text
Essay question: Do you agree with the Forestry Commission’s policy to phase out
major logging operations in NSW? Give reasons for your answer.
Identification Rainforests are closed forests which are found in patches along the east
coast of Australia. In NSW, the Forestry Commission estimates that there
are currently 253,000 hectares of rainforest remaining of which almost
70% is in State Forests (Stacey, 1995:35). At present these areas are
logged by both selective and clearfelling methods, according to an annual
quota of a volume of timber which can be taken by each mill. Despite
arguments to the contrary, there is strong evidence that these logging
Thesis
practices not only cause significant and often irreparable damage to the
(with concession)
environment but ultimately to the timber industry itself. The Forestry
Commission's policy of phasing out major logging operations by 1996
must, therefore, be considered essential to preserve what is left of the
NSW rainforests.
Argument 1 The most important reason for phasing out logging is its destructive
impact on the environment. Logging affects the rainforest ecosystem in a
number of ways. Firstly, the loss of rainforest means the loss of large
quantities of unique plant and animal species. Despite their diminishing
area, the rainforests of eastern Australia still retain the greatest number of
flowering plant species in the world (Stacey, 1995:45). The rainforests
also provide a habitat for many species of rare and/or endangered
animals, some of which are found only in rainforests. These plants and
animals evolve to suit the specific environmental conditions of the
rainforest. If these conditions are modified by removing trees, many of
these species will become extinct. It is estimated, in fact, that if rainforest
destruction occurs at the present rate, by the end of the century nearly
half of the world's plant and animal species will be wiped out (Lucas,
1998: 36).
Concession Although the forestry industry claims that trees grow well in regenerated
forests, these new growth forests do not provide the conditions for many
species to survive. For example, the new trees do not have the valuable
hollows which provide habitats for tree dwelling animals.

Rainforest soils are also affected by removing trees. In general most of the
nutrients of rainforests are stored in the vegetation and not in the soils.
Before logging, the soil is protected by vegetation and leaf litter. When the
canopy of trees is partially or totally removed by logging large areas of soils
are left exposed to rain and wind. The water and nutrients are transported
out of the area by the rain and wind resulting in soil erosion. Even though
new trees are often planted, a great deal of the nutrient value of the forests
Concession
may be lost before the soil can once again be protected.
Argument 2 A second reason for phasing out rainforest logging is that continuing
present logging practices will ultimately have a negative effect on the
Concession timber industry itself. While the timber lobby argues that continued logging
will protect the industry (Jarvis, 1998:56), this argument ignores the long-
term effects of continuing present practices. Many timber mills in NSW are
still operating occurring to quotas which were set in 1953. These quotas
were determined on the basis of each mill's log intake and were set well
beyond the capacity of the State's rainforest areas to sustain them.
Concession Although some quotas have been changed since then, these unsustainable
logging practices have led to diminishing supplies of timber. If present
logging practices are continued the supply of timber will soon run out and
many workers will lose their jobs.
Argument 3 Finally, there are strong political reasons for ceasing logging. Although
Concession supporters for logging claim that conservationists represent only a small
minority of the population, there is evidence to prove that this is far from
true. A recent opinion poll commissioned by the National Conservation
Foundation found that 69% of people in NSW favour preserving what is left
of the State's rainforests from logging and clearing (NCF report, May 1998).
This is a substantial majority and shows that rainforest protection is by far
the most important conservation issue in NSW.
Reinforcement of The arguments presented above make it clear that continuing current
thesis practices of rainforest logging in NSW would be irresponsible. Therefore,
phasing out rainforest logging as proposed by the Forestry Commission is
the only viable alternative because it allows for time to find viable
alternatives to rainforest timbers and to provide alternative employment to
the workers.
Recommendation One possible way of addressing the economic consequences of phasing

out logging is to develop other industries such as eco-tourism in the
existing rainforest areas. Properly managed eco-tourism would provide
employment and much needed money for the 'mill' towns, enable people to
enjoy and appreciate the value of the existing rainforests, as well as ensure
the continued preservation of the delicate rainforest ecosystems.
Adapted from sample text in Humphrey, S 1996, Exploring Literacy in School Geography, DSP, Sydney.

References
Jarvis, P 1998, ‘Logging and forest regeneration’, in P Plessey, (ed.), Issues of Logging, Harcourt
Press, Melbourne, pp6-27.
Lucas, J, Simmons, P & Laithy, R 1998, Logging in NSW Rainforests, Johnson Press, Sydney.
National Conservation Foundation May 1998, ‘Opinion Poll on Logging Practices in NSW’, in NCR
Annual Report, NCR, Sydney.
Stacey, P 1995, State Forests of NSW, NSW Government Press, Sydney.
Sample Text 8.2 Example of a ‘Discussion’ text
Essay question: To what extent was the 1920s a decade of hope?
Issue The 1920s has been called a decade of hope – by the end of the decade the
feeling of antiwar was very high in most countries and many treaties had been
signed to ensure that there would not be another war. However, it can also be
argued that the twenties had a pessimistic dimension in that they prepared the
world for depression. Evidence which supports both views will, therefore, need to
be examined in order to state the degree to which the 1920s can be viewed as a
period of hope. This evidence will include an examination of antiwar feeling, the
signing of various treaties and pacts and the economic climate.
Argument for One of the main forms of evidence that indicates that the 1920s was a period of
hope was the strength of antiwar feeling. Soon after World War I people around
the world realised just how much a disaster the war had really been. They had
witnessed the deaths of millions of innocent men and they were affected by the
millions of dollars that had been spent on the war. As a result, antiwar feeling
increased in most countries around the world.
Argument for Partly as an outcome of antiwar feelings, many treaties were signed so that the
same mistake would not be made again. In 1925 the Locarno Pact was signed at
Locarno. It was a pact between Germany, France, Belgium, Great Britain and
Italy. In it, Germany agreed to accept her western frontier with France and
Belgium as final and settled. In 1926 Germany joined the League of Nations. This
was very significant because firstly it showed that the other nations accepted
Germany as a country and secondly it showed that Germany was prepared to
forget about the past and cooperate with the other nations. Generally Germany's
behaviour was a signal for the world to have hope for a peaceful future.

Argument for Further evidence for a peaceful future was the ‘Dawes’ and ‘Young’ Plans. These
plans helped Germany greatly – especially with her economy. Between 1924 and
1929 Germany made the payments required by the Dawes Plan and expanded
her economy. In 1929 an international committee headed by an American
banker, Owen Young, reduced Germany’s reparations from 6.6 billion pounds to
2 billion pounds to be paid off by 1988. Not surprisingly, the plan was welcomed
by Germany.
Argument
against Having looked at the recovery of World War I and the way in which the 1920s
(Preview) gave hope to people, the depression, and the pessimism that arose out of this
will now be considered.
Argument The major piece of evidence that challenges the definition of the 1920s as a
against period of hope was the lead up to the depression. Under the strain of the war, the
European economies had collapsed and needed a huge boost. Therefore the
USA came to the rescue with giant loans to the Allies. In order to make
repayments to the USA the Allies made Germany pay heavy reparations. For
Germany to do this it relied on huge loans from the USA. The outcome was a
system that depended on the USA: if the USA suddenly lost all its funds then the
whole ‘payback’ system would break down and the world would experience
economic problems.
Argument Eventually the breakdown of the repayment system occurred. In October 1929
against the American stock market collapsed. Americans lost confidence and called in
their loans to Europe. As a result a number of European banks collapsed, which
meant many of their clients were unable to retrieve their savings.
Argument Evidence of the despair and depression that resulted from these losses was
against plentiful: people had little to spend, businesses were unable to sell their goods,
and production was cut. Many firms had to close completely. As a result, the
number of unemployed rose quickly to high levels.
Position An analysis of the evidence above shows that the 1920s was to some extent a
decade of hope. Antiwar feeling and a belief that potential causes of war were
being removed were both indications of this. However, it is also clear that the
1920s heralded the depression. This was due to the increasing dependence of
the European countries on the United States and the effect on these countries of
the stock market crash.
Coffin, C. 1996, Exploring Literacy in School History, DSP, Sydney.

Stages of Analytical Expositions (Staging/ Organisation)
Research on what makes analytical expositions successful (Humphrey 1996) identified

four distinct stages in most Analytical Exposition texts, each of which performs a different
function. The four stages are:
Identification/Background ^ Thesis ^ Arguments 1-n ^ Reinforcement of thesis
Many analytical expositions also conclude with a recommendation stage.
– The Identification or Background stage functions in the same way as the

Identification in Reports and Explanations. In this stage the phenomenon under
investigation is identified and, if necessary, defined. Some relevant factual
information about the phenomenon is also often provided.
– The Thesis stage functions to introduce the issue in question and to state the writer's
position on the issue. In this stage the arguments which will be made are often
previewed.
– In the Arguments stage a number of arguments are introduced. It is through these

arguments that the writer aims to convince the reader to accept a particular position
on an issue. In order to convince the reader of the argument, the writer must present
evidence. This evidence may take many different forms. These include scientific
explanations, results of studies or opinion polls, opinions of 'experts' or descriptions
of events or situations. The difference between 'evidence' and 'arguments' is not
always clear cut. In the following sections we will refer to arguments as the more
general claims which are made in support of the main thesis and evidence as the
information given to support this claim.
Evidence or arguments that challenge the thesis may be included in the Arguments
stage, however, they are immediately critiqued and thus weakened. Including these
counter arguments or Concessions can be a powerful persuasive strategy as it
gives the appearance that the writer has considered the opponents' arguments.
– The Reinforcement of Thesis stage re-affirms the point of view that was stated in
the Thesis stage, however, it is often much stronger and more direct. In Analytical
Expositions the direct 'appeal' to the reader is often disguised as a logical conclusion.
– In the Recommendation stage, the writer recommends a course of action for

addressing the often practical problems which have arisen from the issue discussed.
This may take the form of a suggestion or a demand for action which may include a
rationale.

Stages of Analytical Discussions (Staging/ Organisation)
Four distinct stages can be identified in most Discussion texts. The four stages are:
(Identification or Background) ^ Issue ^ Arguments or Perspectives ^ Position
– The Identification or Background stage is an optional stage which, where

necessary, serves to provide a context for the issue that is the focus of the text.
– The Issue stage puts forward, in summary form, two or more possible interpretations.
They are the interpretations that will be analysed in the body of the essay in order to
reach a conclusion.
– The function of the Arguments stage is to put forward a series of arguments and
evidence that, as a whole, will convince the reader to accept the writer's final
interpretation which will be put forward in the Position stage. Some Discussions
separate the arguments by presenting first one set of arguments that support one
perspective on the issue and then a second set of arguments which support a
different perspective on the issue. This is the case in Text 8.2. On the other hand, a
discussion may alternate arguments for and against. Finally, a discussion may
involve three different perspectives weaved together so that one argument and
perspective can be evaluated in relation to the others. This gives the writer the
opportunity to continually weigh up and evaluate, which strengthens the final
Position.
In a Discussion text type the arguments and evidence put forward are critically
evaluated or challenged either by considering the same events from a different
perspective or angle or by presenting different events and information which counter
a particular argument or present an alternative perspective. In this way it appears the
issue is being explored from a neutral or disinterested position. However, generally,
the writer is subtly weighting the arguments and evidence to direct the reader
towards the final Position that has already been decided upon. For this reason the
arguments and counter arguments are not necessarily equal. In addition, the ordering
patterns may play a key role, for example whether the arguments for or against are
placed in first position in the text. In terms of the evidence that is used to inform the
arguments, typically it comprises condensed Historical Recounts or Accounts,
Reports and Explanations.
– The Position stage is the point at which the final interpretation is put forward. It is
presented as the logical outcome of the critical evaluation of a range of arguments
and evidence that took place in the body of the essay. The success or failure of the
writer in persuading the reader to agree with the Position depends, of course, upon
the relative weight of evidence and arguing strategies used to support the alternative
perspectives. In the Position stage the main arguments are often picked up and
summarised before a final judgement or thesis is made. In a Discussion, the thesis
may totally support one or other side or arrive at a point between the two poles, or

one or more perspectives may be favoured over the rest. Alternatively each
perspective may be seen as a relative `truth’.
Previews in persuasive texts
In longer texts and essays such as analytical expositions and discussions, previews are
used not only to signal the arguments that are included in the text, but are also used to
organise the data or evidence within the arguments. Previews appear not only as topic
sentences at the beginning of paragraphs but also within paragraphs. To distinguish the
layers of previews within a text, we use labels such as Text Preview, Section Preview,
Sub-section preview, etc.
Worksheet 8.2
Identify the layers of previews used in Text 8.1. Highlight the different layers using
different coloured highlighters or using annotations.
Incorporating evidence into persuasive texts
Text types as evidence
In Topic 2 we learned that in order to convince the reader to agree with the particular
thesis or position, the writer of persuasive texts must incorporate evidence from
authoritative sources. At university this evidence will usually take the form of quoting,
paraphrasing or summarising events, data or views taken from other sources. Text 8.1
has referred to data provided by specific sources and thus has provided references for
these sources. Text 8.2 has referred to events which are ‘common knowledge’ and to
views which are generalised (most likely from textbooks and other tertiary sources).
Essays which refer to generalised evidence without referencing are most likely written in
exams.
To incorporate evidence within the arguments of persuasive texts, writers draw on text
types which are valued in the academic context. Text types which might be incorporated
into persuasive texts include explanations, chronicle texts, media stories, scientific
reports and reviews.
Sample Text 8.3 gives an example of how explanations have been incorporated into the
arguments of an analytical exposition.

Sample Text 8.3 Using evidence: explanations within arguments
Argument 1 The loss of rainforest means the loss of large quantities of unique
plant and animal species. The ten percent of land surface which
is currently covered by rainforest supports forty percent of the
Explanation world's plant species and fifty percent of the world's animal
sequence species. These plant and animal species evolve to suit specific
environmental conditions. When these conditions are modified
or removed the species will frequently become extinct. If
rainforest destruction occurs at the present rate, the people of
the late twentieth century will bear total responsibility for the
removal of nearly half of the world's plant and animal species.
Mini-thesis To prevent this horrific prospect action must be taken to stem the
rate of rainforest removal.
Argument 2 Another strong argument for retaining rainforests is the role that all
plants play in assisting in the lowering of greenhouse gases. Plants
absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the air. Carbon
Explanation
dioxide is a greenhouse gas, which is produced by burning
sequence
fossil fuels such as petrol, oil and gas. Greenhouse gases form
a blanket around the earth and trap heat. The trapped heat will
change the climate in all parts of the world. The consequences
of climatic change could be disastrous. They include increased
flooding, drought, famine and the melting of polar ice caps.
Removal of large areas of rainforest will increase the amount of
Mini-thesis
greenhouse gases which blanket the planet.
Worksheet 8.3
1. Identify the text types or parts of text types which give the evidence in Text 8.1.
2. Reread the notes about using evidence from Topic 2.
Expressing degrees of support for the thesis or position
One of the main differences between the explanations we examined in Topic 7 and
persuasive texts such as analytical expositions and discussions is that persuasive texts
are more interpretative. Explanations are concerned with presenting fairly straightforward
reasons and outcomes for events or situations. Persuasive texts, too, are interested in
reasons and outcomes, however, the focus here is on evaluating the reasons and judging
how likely a given explanation is. The thesis in persuasive texts is, therefore, usually
expressed in terms of degree or probability. However, this does not always mean that the
writer does not strongly believe in the argument. This is also a way that writers
acknowledge that there are other points of view and thus build solidarity with their

readers. We will look more closely at the language resources for presenting opinions and
acknowledging different points of view in the next section.
Table 8.1 gives a range of responses to the question asked in Text 8.2 ‘To what extent
was the 1920s a decade of hope?’
Table 8.1
Degree Expression
100 % The 1920s was a decade of hope.

The 1920s was definitely / without doubt a decade of hope.
The 1920s was certainly / clearly a decade of hope.
The 1920s was essentially a decade of hope.
The 1920s was largely a decade of hope.
The 1920s was generally / on the whole a decade of hope.
The 1920s was to some extent a decade of hope.
The 1920s was to a minor / small extent a decade of hope.
0% The 1920s was not a decade of hope.
Worksheet 8.4
Write 3 alternative theses for the following question.
‘Australian universities need to learn from other intellectual traditions in order to face the
challenges of the 21st century’. Discuss.
1. __________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
The language of persuasion and evaluation
In academic persuasive texts writers try to convince their reader to agree with their point
of view by acknowledging different perspectives but judging them according to a particular
stance or ideological position. Successful persuasive writers build a relationship of
solidarity with their readers by making their particular ideological position seem logical and
natural – in order to do this they must employ quite complex language resources. The

English language has a great many resources for expressing opinions and judgements in
order to persuade others to share them. These resources belong to a system of the
lexico-grammar which is known as the Appraisal system.
In this section we will focus on the language resources which are most useful for
evaluating information in academic persuasive texts.
1. Colouring the meanings of words (negative or positive; weak or strong).
This shows the determination of the Aboriginal people to resist the invasion.
The novel presents a simplistic account of Australian history.
2. Grading or scaling meanings in a text.
o by adding adverbs of intensification, (for example, ‘slightly’, ‘significantly’).
However, because 'rex' is also used in a clearly negative way
Logging has effectively wiped out old growth forests.

o by adding intensity to words which already have a core meaning
removed eradicated wiped out.
3. Acknowledging that a position or piece of evidence is contentious.
o expressing degrees of certainty and obligation (MODALITY)
One reason for this could be that the writer is unsure of what the reader’s
stance is.
o attributing claims to outside sources (PROJECTION)
Weaker Authority Stronger Authority
I think the 1920s was a decade of hope. Historians agree the 1920s was a
decade of hope.
According to ........, the 1920s was a decade of
hope. It is clear from the evidence that the
1920s was a decade of hope.
Many people believe the 1920s was a decade
of hope.
Adapted from Coffin, C. 1996, Exploring Literacy in School History, DSP, Sydney.
4. Conceding contending positions (Concessions).

o Concessions as dependent clauses and phrases
While conservationists argue that these workers can be employed in other
industries, it is unlikely that they will find alternative employment.
It can be argued, therefore, that, despite the many warnings of darkness to

come, the 1920s was, to a large extent, a decade of hope.

o Concessions as comment adverbs
Admittedly, our ignorance of Aboriginal history prior to 1788 makes it difficult
to identify significant events on a timeline. However, even within the 200 year
time span shown in the timeline, the author could have achieved more
convincing representation.
In the Western Academic tradition, access is, at least theoretically, open to

everybody.
References for Topic 8
Coffin, C. 1996, Exploring Literacy in School History, Metropolitan East Disadvantaged

Schools Program, NSW Department of Education and Training, Erskineville, NSW.
Humphrey, S 1996, Exploring Issues in School Geography, Metropolitan East
Disadvantaged Schools Program, NSW Department of Education and Training,
Erskineville, NSW.

TOPIC 9 (Week 12)
Author identity in academic writing
Culture strand
Introduction: Formality in academic writing
Researchers/academics have long recognised and acknowledged (see Candlin & Hyland
1999) the shift away from standard formal and impersonal styles of academic writing to
ones that allow more personal comment, narration and stylistic variation. In this topic we
will examine some of the ideas and research that have been put forward on identity in
academic writing as it relates to the essay topic for the final assignment.
Academic writing textbooks make a clear distinction between spoken and written English,
with the former often characterised by informal language use like that listed below. Chang
and Swales (1999: 148) identified ten items that are associated with informal speech
styles. These are listed below with examples of how they relate to the rules of
in/appropriateness for scholarly writing in English:
Table 9.1: Examples of "informal" linguistic features in academic writing
"Informal" linguistic features: Examples
1. The use of first person pronouns to refer to I will approach this issue by...
the author(s) (I and we)
2. Broad (concrete) reference – anaphoric The artist composes, writes, or

pronouns (this, these, that, those, it, which) paints just as he dreams, seizing
whatever swims close to his net.
This, not the world seen directly, is
his raw material.
3. Split infinitives – an infinitive that has an The president proceeded to sharply

adverb between to and the stem of the verb admonish the reporter.
4. Beginning a sentence with conjunctions eh And I will blame her if she fails in
And these ways.

5. Ending a sentence with a preposition A student should not be taught more
than he can think about.
6. Run-on sentences and expressions Avoid pain take an aspirin
7. Sentence fragments which miss at least one But not for a long time.
essential element, like subject, verb or object
8. Contractions Export figures won’t improve until

the economy is stronger.
9. Direct questions What can be done to lower costs?
10. Exclamations So it turns out that the author is

telling the readership to ignore the
author’s objections rather than any
they might have of their own!
Whether or not there is a space for stylistic choices such as those listed above in
academic writing is a topic of considerable debate. This debate should form the basis of
any arguments you wish to make in the final assignment.
Worksheet 9.1 Discussion of Appropriateness & Variation
Now that you have some idea of what informality in writing means, go over the list again
and discuss the following with a classmate:
(1) Do you personally think such stylistic choices should be permissible in the writing of
students and academics? Why?
(2) Are there differences across academic disciplines? Are the informal stylistic
patterns discouraged, tolerated or even encouraged in different disciplines?
(3) Are there differences based on who you are? Does the acceptability of these
features depend on who you are in academia (your identity)? Is it more or less
permissible if you are:
(a) an established academic;

(b) a novice researcher (e.g. postgraduate student);
(c) an undergraduate student.

"Informal" linguistic Appropriate or Disciplinary Differences
features: Inappropriate? differences? based on
Why? identity?
1. The use of first person

pronouns to refer to the
author(s) (I and we)
2. Broad reference –
anaphoric pronouns (this,
these, that, those, it,
which)
3. Split infinitives – an
infinitive that has an
adverb between to and
the stem of the verb
4. Begin a sentence with

conjunctions and the
conjunctive adverb
however
5. End a sentence with a

preposition
6. Run-on sentences and

expressions
7. Sentence fragments
which miss an essential
element, like subject, verb
or object
8. Contractions
9. Direct questions
10. Exclamations

Disciplinary variation & sub-genres of academic writing
The class discussion should have made it clear that there is no universal agreement on
the acceptability of the above linguistic features. This is partly because of disciplinary
variation and sub-genre variation. Disciplines differ in how many so-called features of
informality are allowed in their scholarly writing, but a second factor is that what we have
called "academic/scholarly writing" above consists, in actual fact, of multiple text types:
journal articles, book chapters, research monographs, (undergraduate and postgraduate)
textbooks, research newsletters, and so forth. Each of these sub-genres is written for a
different purpose and audience, and that may account for differing linguistic choices and
styles.
The rhetorical effects of "informal" stylistic features
While it may be debatable whether the use of stylistic features such as those discussed in
this topic should or should not be permissible in academic writing, it has to be
acknowledged that to do so involves a particular purpose on the part of the writer, often
related to his/her wish to develop a particular relationship with the reader or to display a
particular personal or ideological position on an issue.
Work with other students near you to discuss the implications of using personal/informal
stylistic features in academic writing.
Worksheet 9.2 Rhetorical effects of "informal" stylistic features
All informal features tend to share some effects in common: they cause the reader to feel
that the writing is personal, subjective, conversational, disorganised, or all the above.
In addition to these common effects, each individual feature tends to have a particular
rhetorical function or effect (which may, in fact, be a positive one). For each linguistic
feature below, try to think of a relatively unique rhetorical effect.
"Informal" linguistic features: Rhetorical Effect
The use of first person pronouns to refer to

the author(s) (I and we)
Begin a sentence with conjunctions and the

conjunctive adverb however
Sentence fragments which miss an essential

element, like subject, verb or object

Direct questions
Imperatives
Beyond formality: Identity in academic writing (a case study)
Making a choice between formal and informal language is not the only issue to consider
when you write. Many academics also grapple with the issue of how to form their own
"voice" in their writing: how to write in a way that is "like everyone else" in the disciplinary
community, so that they show they belong, while at the same time projecting an individual
identity so that they remain true to themselves, to their own personality, agendas, and
points of view.
In the lecture we will look at a case study by Hyland (2009) who examines the writing of
two highly regarded academics in linguistics: Deborah Cameron and John Swales. The
related reading for this case study comes from the following chapter that is reproduced in
your Readings section.
Hyland, K 2009, ‘Constraint vs creativity: Identity and disciplinarity in Academic

Writing’, in M Gotti (ed.), Commonality and Individuality in Academic Discourse,
Peter Lang, Bern, pp25-52.
As you listen to the lecture, jot down some notes in the Worksheet below:
Worksheet 9.3
1. Defining "identity".
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2. How is the identity of academics shaped?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

3. What kinds of limitations do apprentice scholars face in portraying an academic
identity in their writing?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
4. The case study: Deborah Cameron and John Swales. Fill in the table as this case
study is discussed in the lecture:
Deborah Cameron John Swales
Background:
Employed at:
Area of
Expertise:
Research data findings
Professional
discourses /
key themes
Personal traits
So how do writers create their authorial identity?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
[end of subject notes]

ELL 903/152
Effective Written Communication
READINGS
ELL 903/152 Readings: Contents Page 118

Contents of the SUBJECT READINGS
section (and references for those readings)
Reading ONE:
Gibbs, G 1992, Improving the quality of student learning, Oxford Centre for Staff Development,
Bristol, UK. [Chapter 1, The nature of quality in learning (pp. 1-11)]
Reading TWO:
Peters, P 1985, Strategies for student writers: A guide to writing essays, tutorial papers, exam
papers and reports, John Wiley & Sons, Milton, Qld. [Chapter 1, Writing as a means of
inquiry (pp. 1-11)]
Reading THREE:
Coffin, C & Hewings, A 2003, ‘Writing for different disciplines’, in C Coffin, MJ Curry,
S Goodman, A Hewings, TM Lillis, & J Swan (eds), Teaching academic writing: A toolkit
for higher education, Routledge, Oxford, pp. 45-72.
Reading FOUR:
Woodward-Kron, R 2004, ‘Discourse communities’ and ‘writing apprenticeship’: An investigation

of these concepts in undergraduate Education students’ writing, Journal of English for
Academic Purposes, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 139-161.
Reading FIVE:
Paxton, M 2007, ‘Tensions between textbook pedagogy and the literacy practices of the
disciplinary community: A study of writing in first year economics’, Journal of English for
Academic Purposes, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 109-125.
[Reading SIX: NOT included in this book. Get it from Moodle.]
Thompson, P 2009, ‘Shared disciplinary norms and individual traits in the writing of British
undergraduates’, in M Gotti (ed.), Commonality and individuality in academic discourse,
Peter Lang, Bern, pp. 53-82.
ELL 903/152 Readings (Contents Page) 119

[Reading SEVEN: NOT in this book. Get it from Moodle.]
Chang, YY & Swales, JM 1999, ‘Informal elements in English academic writing: Threats or
opportunities for advanced non-native speakers?’, in CN Candlin & K Hyland (eds),
Writing: Texts, processes and practices, Longman, London, pp. 145-167.
Reading EIGHT:
Hyland, K 2009, ‘Constraint vs creativity: Identity and disciplinarity in academic writing’, in M

Gotti (ed.), Commonality and individuality in academic discourse, Peter Lang, Bern, pp.
25-52.
Reading NINE:
Phan, LH 2009, ‘Strategic, passionate, but academic: Am I allowed in my writing?’ Journal of

English for Academic Purposes, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 134-146.
NOTE: From this author's university profile page, it is clear that her surname is "Phan", and her
given names are "Le Ha", which is also sometimes hyphenated as "Le-Ha", and which often gets
abbreviated in reference lists to just "L" instead of "LH" as shown above. Asian surnames/family
names are normally mentioned first in their own home countries, thus creating confusion for
Western scholars and Western citation practices where "first names" become last when it comes
to reference lists. Phan may have consciously allowed her publications to be variously cited as
"Ha" or "Le Ha", or "Phan", because of this confusion. The best conformance with the Harvard
style would be to list this reading as "Phan, LH" as above, and to cite it as Phan (2009).
Reading TEN:
Luzón, MJ 2009, ‘The use of we in a learner corpus of reports written by EFL Engineering
students’, Journal of English for Academic Purposes, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 192-206.
Other relevant readings: [NOT in this book. Get them from Moodle.]
Candlin, C & Plum, G 1999, ‘Engaging with the challenges of interdiscursivity in academic
writing: Researchers, students and tutors’, in C Candlin & K Hyland (eds), Writing: Texts,
processes and practices, Longman, London, pp. 193–217.

© University of Wollongong 2022 . All rights reserved.
Additional Readings for Public Health students in ELL 903
This section lists a few starter readings that public health students might wish to read for a more
targeted focus on academic writing in public health/health services or for preparing
assignments. These are not in any sequence and are not linked to any particular week. You
should still read the listed reading(s) for the relevant week as set out in the Subject Outline.
Academic writing with a health/public health focus
1. Liamputtong, P, Shields, N and Gallichio A 2020, Writing and appraising research Reports.
Chapter 27 in Pranee Liamputtong, Karen Anderson and Teres Bondas, Research Methods in
Health. Oxford: OUP. [e-book in library]
2. Turner, K, Ireland, L, Krenus, B & Pointon, L 2011, Essential academic skills, Second edition.
Oxford: Oxford University Press. [e-book in library]
Papers that might be useful for assignment preparation
3. Yarris, L, Artino, A, Deiorio, N, ten Cate, O, Sullivan, G, & Simpson, D 2020, ’Envisioning the
Future of Academic Writing’. Journal of Graduate Medical Education, vol 12, no. 1, pp. 1-6.
https://doi.org/10.4300/JGME-D-20-00006.1
Good paper with a future training focus and an overview of changes in how communication
works in health. Useful perhaps for an writing information report on literature search,
scholarship and and writing practices in your discipline – think about the narrower disciplines
within public health and how they operate - e.g. health promotion or biostatistics.
4. Mackenzie, S 2018, ‘Writing for Public Health: Strategies for Teaching Writing in a School or
Program of Public Health’, Public Health Reports vol. 133, no. 5, pp. 614-618.
DOI: 10.1177/0033354918785374
Good paper with a fantastic opening comparing Upton Sinclair and recent AIDS tweet.
5. Vallardares, L., Riegelman, R. & Albertine, S 2019, ‘Writing in Public Health: A New Program
From the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health’, Public Health Reports, vol.
134, no. 1, pp. 94-97. DOI: 10.1177/0033354918813106
Good paper – another great opening ‘Public Health is Writing’

6. Clark, I & Fischbach, R 2008, ‘Writing and Learning in the Health Sciences: Rhetoric, Identity,
Genre, and Performance’, The WAC Journal vol. 19, pp. 15-28. ISSN 1544-4929.
This one is good and talks about dramatisation especially with respect to persuasive writing for
the public.
7. Carrol, J-A, Hamilton, A-R, Meiklejohn, J, Newcomb, M & Adkins, B 2013, ‘Collaboration and
competition on a wiki: The praxis of social learning to improve academic research writing in
under-graduate students’, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, vol. 29, no. 4, pp.
513-525.
This paper may be a bit old for an article on using social media. But it gives an interesting
overview of an area of research. Also look for more recent work by Janine Delahunty from UOW
on ‘online identities’ in academic communication.
8. Guerin, C, Xafis, V, Doda, D et al., 2012, ‘Diversity in collaborative research communities: a

multicultural, multidisciplinary thesis writing group in public health’, Studies in Continuing
Education, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 65-81 DOI: 10.1080/0158037X.2012.684375
A useful article for research students but the principles are useful for all students in
postgraduate public health.
9. Aslam, S & Emmanuel, P 2010, 'Formulating a researchable question: a critical step for
facilitating good clinical research', Indian journal of sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS vol.
31, no. 1, pp. 47-50.
This paper is an interesting look at the need to make research questions that work. Readers
should read with caution however: the abstract in this paper is not a good model of writing in
academic English. Do not copy the way this abstract is written if you are writing research
abstracts yourself.


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ELL 903/152

Effective Written Communication for

English Language & Linguistics Program (ELL)

ELL 903/152 Contents Page Subject Notes Page 1

Part 1: Subject Notes (read before lectures)

Topic 1 Academic culture & academic writing (Week 1) ........................................... 3

Topic 5 Historical recounts: our second academic genre (Week 5) ........................ 59

Topic 6 Comparative reports: our third academic genre (Week 6, 8) ..................... 73

Topic 7 Explanations: our fourth academic genre (Week 9) ................................... 82

Part 2: Readings (middle part of book) .......................................118

Part 3: Tutorial Activities & Assignment Details...............................240

Assessment THREE – Comparative Report ............................................................... 277

Assessment FOUR – Persuasive Essay .................................................................... 291

Assessment FIVE – Reflection and Tracking Log....................................................... 299

ELL 903/152 Contents Page Subject Notes Page 2

The culture of the university

This university is based on a cultural tradition which is shared by universities across

– what we use language to achieve at university (purposes).

– the way the university is structured institutionally (structures).

ELL 903/152 Topic 1 Subject Notes Page 3

Communicative techniques in Western classrooms tend to involve elements such

ELL 903/152 Topic 1 Subject Notes Page 4

Categories for analysing texts

– Purpose of use in the academic context

– Text structure and organisation

The purposes of academic texts

– observing and describing the world

– generalising and analysing what has been observed

– interpreting and evaluating academic knowledge

ELL 903/152 Topic 1 Subject Notes Page 5

Sample Text 1.1 The students’ union

ELL 903/152 Topic 1 Subject Notes Page 6

2. Who do you think produced the text?

3. For whom do you think the text was produced?

4. What task do you think the writer or speaker aimed to perform?

Text structure and organisation

An important aspect of this course is learning to organise information in different ways so

ELL 903/152 Topic 1 Subject Notes Page 7

ELL 903/152 Topic 1 Subject Notes Page 8

ELL 903/152 Topic 1 Subject Notes Page 9

Week 2 lecture: Culture strand

Registers of academic English

ELL 903/152 Topic 2 Subject Notes Page 10

ELL 903/152 Topic 2 Subject Notes Page 11

Spoken-like language Written-like language

Read the two extracts below:

a) Yeah but when you tread on them, they crunch.

Language and register

ELL 903/152 Topic 2 Subject Notes Page 12

Sample Text 2.1

Sample Text 2.2

ELL 903/152 Topic 2 Subject Notes Page 13

Sample Text 2.1 Sample Text 2.2

What is the purpose of the text?

Does the text use specialised

Does the text appear to be

Is the text generalised and

Do you think the text would be

Language features of academic texts

So far we have identified aspects of register in general terms. It is possible, however to

Field – Specialised and formal language

ELL 903/152 Topic 2 Subject Notes Page 14

Field – specialised and formal language