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Rhetorical Functions in Academic Speaking


I. Describing

II. Narrating and reporting

III. Defining

IV. Giving instructions

V. Classifying / categorising

VI. Giving examples

VII. Including charts and diagrams

VIII. Comparison and contrast

IX. Generalizing

X. Expressing degrees of certainty

XI. Cause and effect

XII. Arguing & Discussing

XIII. Introductions

XIV. Drawing conclusions

Rhetorical Functions in Academic Speaking: Tests

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I. Describing

Here is a description of the process of sorting letters.

First of all, letters and packets are collected in bags from pillar boxes, post offices and firms, in post office vans. They are then taken to the sorting office. Here the bags are emptied and the letters are separated from the packets. Following this step, the letters are put through machines so that the stamps can be cancelled. In this process the date and place of sorting are put over the stamps on each envelope. In the next stage, the sorting of the letters takes place, according to the county they are addressed to. This is done by placing them in the appropriate pigeon hole. Subsequently, the letters are taken from the pigeon holes and placed in baskets, which are then put onto a conveyor belt. While on this conveyor belt, the baskets are directed to the appropriate secondary sorting section by means of coding pegs. At the secondary sorting frames, the letters are put into towns in the county. Later, the letters are tied in bundles and a label is put on showing the towns they are addressed to. Finally, the letter bundles are placed in bags, which have the Post Office seal, Post Office Railway number and Destination Code number on them. These are then sent to the railway station.

Notice that the passive form of the verb is widely used. This is because in this type of speaking, we are usually more interested in the process than in the people doing the work. Observe all the link words. Look at the following examples:

Read the following descriptions:

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Example 1If you look at an octopus, it seems to be just a huge head with eight long, fearful arms. Its head is soft and rubberlike. Its eyes stick out on stalks so that it can see in all directions. Its mouth is on the underside of its body and has powerful jaws which are shaped like a beak. The long arms, or tentacles, have double rows of suckers. These can fasten onto objects with such suction that they cannot be pulled off.

Example 2The liver is the largest organ in the body. It weighs a little more than three pounds in an adult. It is shaped like a wedge and it is situated under the diaphragm, mostly on the left side of the body. There it is protected by the lower ribs. The liver is a little like an intricate chemical factory. It takes the particles of glucose - which come from digested starches and sugars - and changes them into another kind of carbohydrate called glycogen. It then stores the glycogen. When you need sugar in your body, the liver turns the glycogen into glucose again and sends it to the body tissues through the bloodstream.

Example 3The Léclanché cell consists of a leakproof jacket which contains a porous pot. In the pot there is a paste of manganese dioxide and carbon granules and this paste surrounds a carbon rod. The top can be sealed with pitch. There is a zinc rod standing in a solution of ammonium chloride, and this is connected to the carbon rod via a circuit and a light bulb. The zinc dissolves in the solution, and this sets up an electromotive force. The ammonium ions migrate to the carbon anode and form ammonia - which dissolves in the water - and hydrogen ions. We use wet paste cells of the Léclanché type in dry batteries for torches.

Example 4A 12-volt car battery has six two-volt cells and these are connected in series. The cells have anodes of brown lead oxide and cathodes of porous grey lead and these are immersed in sulphuric acid. If the electrodes are connected through a conductor, then an electric current flows. When the battery supplies current, the sulphuric acid converts the anode to lead sulphate, and this reduces the strength of the acid. When you are recharging, this process is reversed. Each cell of the battery is made of several anodes and cathodes and these are separated by porous insulators. The cells are housed in a hard rubber case and the various cells are interconnected with lead bars.

Example 5

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This is my Sony ICD MX 20 Digital Voice Recorder.

As you can see it's small rectangular in shape. Actually it is 37 mm wide, 100mm high and 24 mm deep. It is made of aluminium, which is very strong and light. It weighs just 96g, that's including the batteries. On the front, you can see, it has an LCD display - the display is about 25 mm square and it has a light - backlight - so that you can see it in the dark. On the front, there are also the controls and a small .28mm diameter loudspeaker. At the top it has a stereo microphone with a switch to make it more directional and long distant. On the left-hand side here it has earphone and microphone jack sockets. On the right hand side it has a Sony Memory Stick PRO Duo slot and a USB connector to allow you to transfer your recording to and from a PC. This means that I can change the memory card if I need to so, as I said, the amount I can record is unlimited. It uses a Sony Memory Stick PRO Duo card and at the moment, I have a 2GByte card in now. With the 2GByte card I can record up to 750 hours or, if I set it to best quality, as I usually do, 92 hours. That's perfectly enough for what I need. You can see also that it has a volume control on the right hand side. At the bottom of the recorder, there is a battery container and a socket for an external power supply. It uses 2 standard type AAA batteries, and they last for 17 hours playing or 8 hours recording.

Example 6

MAKING A TRANSISTOR

In the first masking, the silicon base is coated with silicon dioxide. This doesn't conduct electricity. It is then coated with a substance called photoresist. Then ultraviolet light is then shone through a patterned mask which hardens the photoresist. The parts which are not exposed to the light remain soft.

The next stage is the first etching. In this stage, a solvent is used to dissolve away the soft unexposed layer of photoresist. This exposes a part of the silicon dioxide. This exposed silicon dioxide is then chemically etched to reduce its thickness. The hardened photoresist is then dissolved to leave a ridge of dioxide.

Next is the second masking. Here layers of polysilicon, which conducts electricity and photoresist, are applied, and then a second masking operation is carried out.

Now comes the second etching. The unexposed photoresist is dissolved, and then an etching treatment removes the polysilicon and silicon dioxide beneath it. This reveals two strips of p-type

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silicon.

In the next stage, the hard photoresist is removed. The layers then undergo an operation called doping. This operation transforms the newly revealed strips of p-type silicon into n-type silicon.

The third masking stage and more etching follow. Now, layers of silicon dioxide and photoresist are added. Masking and etching creates holes through to the doped silicon and central polysilicon strip.

Finally, the photoresist is dissolved, and a final masking stage adds three strips of aluminium. These make electrical connections through the holes and complete the transistor.

In this transistor, known as an MOS type, a positive charge fed to the gate attracts electrons in the p-type silicon base. Current flows between the source and the drain, thereby switching the transistor on. A negative charge at the gate repels electrons and turns the current off.

Example 7

Carbon is the basic element of organic chemistry and it undergoes a natural cycle in the environment. It exists naturally in the form of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. From there it is absorbed by plants to build carbohydrates in the green leaves. When the plants burn, and animals breathe out, carbon dioxide passes back into the air. Also, in decaying plant and animal remains carbohydrates are broken down to release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Example 8

THE PHOTOCOPIER

A photocopier uses static electricity to produce almost instant copies of documents. At the heart of the machine is a metal drum. This is given a negative charge at the beginning of the copying cycle. The optical system then projects an image of the document on the drum. The electric charge disappears where light strikes the metal surface. So only dark parts of the image remain charged. Positively charged particles of toner powder are then applied to the drum. The charged parts of the drum attract the dark powder, which is then transferred to a piece of paper. A heater seals the powder to the paper, and a warm copy of the document emerges from the photocopier. A colour copier works in the same basic way, but scans the document with blue, green and red filters. It then transfers toner to the paper in three layers coloured yellow, magenta and cyan. The three colours overlap to give a full colour picture.

Example 9

PAPERMAKING

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Printing is of little use without paper. Basically, a sheet of paper is a flattened mesh of interlocking plant fibres, mainly of wood and cotton. Making paper involves reducing a plant to its fibres, and then aligning the fibres and coating them with materials such as glues, pigments and mineral fillers.

Firstly, trees are felled and then they are transported to paper mills as logs.

Next, the bark has to be stripped off the logs, without damaging the wood.

Then, the wood is pulped. Pulping reduces the wood to a slurry of loose fibres in water. The logs are first sliced into chips and then they are treated with chemicals in a digester. These chemicals dissolve the lignin binding the wood fibres together. Alternatively, machines may grind the logs in water to produce pulp. The pulp is then bleached.

After that, the pulp goes to the mixer. The mixer is where materials are added to improve the quality of the paper. The additives include white fillers such as china clay, size for water-proofing, and coloured pigments. The mixer beats the fibres into a smooth pulp.

Then, liquid pulp is fed from the flowbox onto the mesh belt. The water drains through the holes in the mesh, and suction is used to accelerate the drainage. The dandy roll then presses the fibres together into a wet ribbon known as a web.

Belts move the web between the press rolls, which remove more water and compress the paper.

Finally, the damp web moves through the dryer, where it passes between hot cylinders and felt-covered belts that absorb water. It then passes through the calender stacks before being wound on reels or cut into sheets.

Example 10

NEWCOMEN'S STEAM - ATMOSPHERIC PUMP

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I

think you've all heard of James Watt, who is normally considered to be the person who invented the first modern steam engine. But actually, he got the idea for his steam engine from a primitive steam pump, which had been built by Thomas Newcomen in 1712.

In 1712, he'd built a pump, a steam-driven pump for pumping water out of the tin mines in south west England. Newcomen's pump, as you can see, had two main parts, and these were positioned on either side of a wall. There was a pump mechanism on one side of the wall and a simple engine on the other side of the wall. These two parts were connected by a large pivoted beam. Attached to each end of the beam was a piston on a chain. The pump piston hung down inside a mine shaft, while the engine piston sat inside a cylinder, and this was mounted on top of a boiler. Above the cylinder was a tank containing cold water.

A. Language

Position, weight, structure, colour, composition, size, shape, function

A. 1. Position

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A is

adjacent toalongsidebelowbeyondfacing (diagonally) parallel tounderneathoppositein the middle ofon the right ofon the left ofnearclose totouchingbehindin front ofunderon top ofabovebelowlevel withdiagonally abovevertically below

B

betweenequidistant from B and C.

A.2. Structure

X

is

nailedscrewedfixedfastenedlinkedweldedtiedconnectedattached

to Y by Z

consists of Y and Z

containsincludes

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is

held in placesecuredsupportedsuspended

by

Yjoined to

mountedplacedpivoted

on

A.3. Colour

X is

darklightpalebrightdull

green.blue.red.yellow.

A.4. Composition

X is made of

metal.steel.aluminium.an alloy of A and B.cloth.silk.china.wood.plastic.glass.

A.5. Size and weight

X is 6 cmlonghighwide

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X is

6 cm

in

lengthheightwidthdiameter

6 Kg weight

The

lengthheightwidthdiameter of X is

6 cm

weight 6 Kg.

X has a

lengthwidthheightdiameter

of6 cm.

weight 6 Kg.

X weighs 10 Kg

A.6. Shape

X is

squareroundrectangulartriangularsemi-circularconicalsphericalhexagonaloctagonalovalcircularirregular

in shape

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X is is shaped like a

squarecirclerectangletrianglesemi-circlehexagonoctagon

X is

cubicalcylindricalpyramidalsphericaltubularspiralhemisphericalconical

in shape

X is

bulboustaperingconcaveconvex

in shape.

diamond-shapedkidney-shapedU-shapedstar-shapedbell-shapeddome-shapedmushroom-shapedX-shapedcrescent-shapedegg-shapedpear-shapedY-shaped

.

A.7. Function

The functionpurposeaim

of the thermometertripod

is to measure the temperature.hold the beaker.

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objective

The thermometertripod is used for measuring the temperature.

holding the beaker,

A.8. Properties

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X is

lighttoughsoftelasticmalleableflexiblesolublea good conductor of electricity/heatcorrosion resistantcombustibletransparentsmoothheavybrittlehardplasticductilerigidinsolublea bad conductor of electricity/heatnot corrosion resistantnon-combustibleopaquerough

(Back to Introduction)

II. Narrating and reporting

Read the following texts:

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The Evolution of Sound Recording

The history of recording sound stretches back to 1857. At that time, Leon Scott very much wanted to obtain a picture of what sound waves looked like. So he devised a method for recording the vibrations in the air. His device - he later patented as the Phonoautograph - used a large parabolic horn to channel incoming sound waves to a membrane covering the narrow end of the horn. He attached a bristle to the membrane by a lever and this traced a path in a revolving cylinder which was coated with lamp-black. As the membrane vibrated in response to sound waves, the bristle etched a pattern in the lamp-black that corresponded to the frequency of the sound. Although this was useful for gaining a view of what different sound waves looked like, the device could only record incoming waves - there was no provision for playing back the sound wave traces.

After studying the Phonoautograph, Thomas Edison modified the basic design in 1877 so that it could play back sounds. The sound quality was rather pitiful, but because he could actually do this others were encouraged to continue developing it. Edison’s device used a grooved metal cylinder which was encased in tinfoil. When someone spoke into a horn, it concentrated the sound waves. At the apex of the horn, a thin membrane was attached to a needle and this transmitted the vibrations. The resulting waves were scored into the tinfoil as the needle moved up and down. This created a path which varied in depth. The cylinder in this device was rotated by means of a hand crank. Once the sound was recorded, the needle was returned to the beginning of the groove. Turning the hand crank caused the vibrations which had been captured in tinfoil to travel from the needle to the diaphragm and a crude replica of the human voice emerged from the horn.

Alexander Graham Bell took this invention a step further by replacing the foil-covered cylinder with one coated with wax. The needle cut a pattern that varied in depth onto the wax surface. For recording, Bell relied on a very sharp stylus and firm membrane. During playback, he switched to a dull stylus and a looser membrane so as not to destroy the original impressions. To reuse the cylinder, the wax could be shaved and smoothed. For the first time, sound recording could be accomplished on removable and reusable media. The process was further improved with the addition of an electric motor to replace the hand crank, so that recording and playback took place at uniform speeds. Recorded cylinders were then metal-plated to create a mould so that a number of copies of the original could be produced.

The technology was the beginning of a mini-industry. Phonograph parlours sprang up around the country in the late 1800s. In them, amazed visitors paid a nickel to hear voices muttering from these primitive playback devices.

They replaced the recording cylinder by a disc in 1888 when Emile Berliner devised a variation of this basic recording technique. Berliner’s gramophone used a stylus travelling within a spiral groove on a flat disc. Sound waves caused the stylus to cut a pattern side to side within the groove. They could then reproduce the pattern on the disc using a metal mould and they could manufacture hundreds of recorded discs inexpensively from each mould. They made the disc itself out of metal covered with wax. After the stylus cut the pattern and removing the wax from its path, acid was used to etch the resulting waveform into the metal subsurface.

While the sound quality wasn’t as good as that of the cylinders, the recording method was better suited to mass production. By the year 1910, people were selling discs and spring-wound players all over the world These featured recordings by some of the most popular singers of that era. When the vacuum tube amplifier was developed in 1912 by Lee de Forest, efforts were made to combine

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the phonograph and gramophone with amplified playback. This process took several more years.

During the same period that Edison, Bell, and Berliner were working on their sound recording devices, others were working on developing methods of magnetic recording of sound waves. Instead of imprinting the pattern os sound waves on a disc or cylinder, it is translated into a series of magnetic domains and we can store these on a variety of media. Oberlin Smith in 1888 claimed the first patent for such. Later, a man by the name of Poulson created a magnetic sound recorder that used steel tape as the recording medium. He exhibited his invention at the Paris Exhibition in 1900, calling his device a Telegraphone.

The radio broadcast industry was very interested in equipment that could store sound and immediately play it back. Since they could then repeat some broadcast material - such as newscasts - whenever they wanted. They could easily erase the tape and use it again. This was another major benefit. Work by DeStille in 1924 resulted in the Blattnerphone, and this impressed the British Broadcasting Company so much that they became involved in the development process. The Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company also jumped into the development effort, using steel-based magnetic tape that was initially biased to saturation. Rudimentary magnetic recorders were also produced, although the early versions required literally miles of steel tape to accommodate 20 or 30 minutes of recorded sound.

Cumbersome steel-based tapes gave way to plastic-based magnetic tape. It was possible to formulate the magnetic oxides coating plastic-based tape to change their recording and sound-storage properties. Undesirable characteristics such as print-through (the tendency of magnetic signals to leach through one layer of tape and affect adjacent layers) could be minimized through a choice of magnetic oxide.

We still use magnetic methods of recording in cassette recorders and reel-to-reel decks today, and we have made improvements in electronics, recording media, magnetic recording heads, and noise-reduction techniques which have maintained the viability of this recording method. However this method of recording is subject to certain limitations that have been largely overcome by digital recording techniques. Digital storage method have anabled signal-to-noise ratios of recorded sounds, among other factors, to be greatly improved.

After many years of development, digital recording gear has largely surpassed analogue, reel-to-reel, and magnetic tape recorders. Digital recording machines - such as the DAT, ADAT, RDAT, recordable mini-disc, portable studios with removable hard disk drive storage, and home computers have changed our perception of “high-fidelity” audio to startlingly clearer levels. In the digital realm, the signal-to-noise ratio is greatly improved over analogue equipment, meaning the dynamic representation of the music is greatly improved. The familiar hiss and tape noise common to analogue recording is conspicuously absent in digital recordings. This particular improvement in recording techniques ensures that the softest passages in a recorded musical work or speech will be as free of noise as the loudest levels of recorded audio. The recordist has a greater dynamic range to work with when using digital recording techniques, and fewer processing “tricks” are required to guarantee an effective sound recording.

Exercises

Try this exercise.

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II.A. Language

Past tense is common.

Chronological order is also common, but when we are speaking about past events, it is necessary to be explicit about the order in which things happened. To make the order clear, we mention dates and time, and we also use various links and connectives.

A.1. Time

In 1942, ...During the 20th century, ...Yesterday, ...Twenty five years ago, ...

A.2. Sequence

- Before

Before he was offered a job as a lecturer, he had finished his research.Before this, …For the previous X years, … Prior to this, … Previously, … X years previously, … Before… … before which … … prior to which …

- After

WhenAs soon asAfter

he had finished his research, he was offered a job as a lecturer.

On finishing his research,After finishing his research,Having finished his research,On finishing his research,

he was offered a job as a lecturer.

For the following X years, … X years later, … After … Following this, …

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When … Subsequently, … Soon/Shortly/Immediately afterwards, … … following which … … after which …

- While

While he was doing his research,

he made an important discovery.When

doing his research,While

During his research,

During this period, … Throughout this period, … … during which… … throughout which…


III. Defining

In academic speaking, it is often necessary to define your terms.

Examples

The name we apply to the liquid rock material, or magma, when it reaches the surface, is lava. The word lava is also used for the solid rock that is formed by consolidation when the liquid rock cools. The temperature of lava as it comes to the surface may be higher than 2000°F. We know this because copper wire with a melting point of 2200°F was melted in the lava from Vesuvius. We have also observed a temperature of 2300° F at Kilauea.

Adapted from This earth of ours by Victor T Allen, p. 3

In this case, the term ‘lava’ is being defined.

We call the sediment which is deposited by a stream alluvium.

This earth of ours by Victor T Allen, p. 97.

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In this example, ‘alluvium’ is being defined.

Diseases and symptoms

We normally define a disease as an abnormal condition of the body that has a specific cause and characteristic outward 'signs' and symptoms. Technically speaking, we usually say that a 'sign' is an indication of a disease that is noticed by the doctor but not by the patient, while a 'symptom' is something the patient himself feels - but this distinction is often not so clear in ordinary conversation.

In this example, definitions of ‘disease’, ‘symptom’ and ‘sign’ are defined.

III.A. Language

X is ...X is called ...X is known as ...X may be defined as ...X is a type of Y that/which ... A type of Y which ... is XWe call ... ...We define ... ...


IV. Giving instructions

Examples

Instructions can be given in many ways. A list with the imperative form of the verb and words such as ‘first’, ‘then’, ‘next’ is one common way. Continuous text using the present tense form of the verb with you and should is another common way. Make sure you distinguish between giving instructions - that is, telling someone how to do something - and describing a process - that is describing how something happens. Look at the following examples of different ways of giving instructions. Notice the highlighted language items:

Calculating the standard deviation

First, put the scores in order down the page.Then, work out the mean.Now calculate how much each deviates from the mean.Next, square each of these deviations.Add them all up.Now divide by the number of scores.Lastly find the square root. This is the standard deviation.

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Mouth-to-mouth artificial respiration

In certain accidents, if the patient's breathing stops, you can save life by using artificial respiration. This means that someone else causes air to enter and leave a person's lungs. The method of artificial respiration that the U.S. Army, the Red Cross, and the Boy Scouts of America recomm is a method of mouth-to-mouth breathing. First, place the victim face up. Tilt the victim's head back so that the chin is pointing upward. Next, if there is any foreign matter in the victim's mouth, wipe it out quickly with your fingers. Then, with your right-hand thumb, pull the jaw down to clear the tongue from the air passage in the back of the victim's mouth. With your left hand, pinch the nostrils to prevent the air you blow into the victim's mouth from escaping through the nose. Now, place your mouth tightly over the victim's and blow into his or her mouth until you see the chest rise. Remove your mouth, turn your head to the side, and listen to the outrush of air that indicates air exchange. Repeat blowing. For an adult, blow vigorously at a rate of about twelve breaths a minute. For a young child, take relatively shallow breaths, at a rate of about twenty a minute.

Creating a new Web page

You don’t need any special tools to create a Web page. You can use any word processor, even WordPad or SimpleText, which are included with the basic Windows and Macintosh system software.

To create a new Web page:

First, open a text editor or word processor.Then. choose File > New to create a new, blank document.Next. create the HTML content as explained in the rest of this book.When you've done that, choose File > Save As.In the dialog box that appears, choose Text Only (or ASCII) for the format.Next, give the document the .htm or html extension.Then. Choose the folder in which to save the Web page.Finally. Click Save.

Printing black and white photographs

First, you should prepare chemical solutions and arrange them in three dishes in the order in which you will use them - developer, stop bath and fix. You should then bring down or raise the solutions to the correct temperature (about 20° C) and there should be enough of each to give a depth of 5cm.

Next, you should then cut the film into strips so that all of them will fit on to a single sheet of 10 x 8 in paper. Clean the negatives and the sheet of glass with an anti-static cloth. Then switch off the white light and switch on the safelight.

The enlarger is a convenient light source. You should adjust the height of the head so that its beam illuminates an area slightly larger than the sheet of glass you are using. Stop down to f8 and cover the lens with the safe filter.

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Then, take a sheet of printing paper and lay it, emulsion (glossy) side up, in position under the enlarger. It will not, of course, be affected by the filtered light from the enlarger. Lay the negatives, emulsion (matt) side down, on top of the paper and cover them with the sheet of glass to hold them in place.

After that, switch off the enlarger and then move the safe filter away from the lens. Switch on the enlarger again and expose the paper for 10 seconds. This should be accurate to within about one second.

You should now take the exposed photographic paper from under the glass and slide it into the developer dish with the emulsion side up.

When the paper has been in the developer for about 30 seconds the image should begin to appear and it will continue to darken for about two minutes. Agitate the paper gently during this period by rocking the dish or moving the paper about carefully with the tongs.

After the correct time, the image will reach a stage where it does not change its density very much. At this point, remove the sheet from the developer and let the liquid drain off.

When the developer solution has drained off the paper, take the second pair of tongs and transfer it to the stop for 15-30 seconds.

Next, transfer the print from the stop bath to the fixer. After about a minute the white light may be switched on and the print can be examined.

You should now transfer the print to the wash and keep it there face down for 30 minutes, or at least twice as long for double-weight paper. If you are using resin-coated paper, it need only be for five minutes.

You should now dry the finished print. If you use a squeegee roller or photographic blotting paper to remove excess water, you should take care not to get dust on to the surface, which will remain tacky until the print is dry.

Identify the language used in the text.

Prints from transparencies

1. Mix the developer, bleach and fixer in their appropriate beakers according to the manufacturer’s instructions and stand them in a tray of water to keep them at a constant temperature within 1.5°C of 24°C.

2. In total darkness make the exposure from the slide. Use as few filters as possible to find the correct colour balance and select the best exposure. As with other enlarging techniques, you should make a test strip first.

3. With the darkroom lights still off, roll the exposed print, emulsion side inwards, and place it inside the developing drum. Screw the cap on tightly. The print is now protected from the light and you can switch on the darkroom lights for the rest of the operation.

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4. Pour 90cc of the developer, which you have already prepared in beaker 1 and kept at the correct temperature, into the drum.

5. Place the cap on the drum and roll the drum back and forth for two minutes to agitate the developer. You should roll the drums through 180° to make sure that the developer reaches all parts of the print to produce an even development.

6. Pour away the developer and let the drum drain for about 15 seconds. If the drum is not well drained, the next stage may be contaminated and unpleasant odours can eventually build up.

7. Repeat the procedure with 90cc of bleach prepared in beaker 2, agitating the drum for at least four minutes. A shorter bleaching time may produce stains on the print. Pour the bleach into the neutralizing container and let the drum drain for 15 seconds. Pour in 90cc of fixer from beaker 3, agitate and pour away.

8. Remove the picture from the drum and wash it in a flat dish under running water for three minutes. At this stage the emulsion surface is very delicate and should not be touched. The print should dry at room temperature in two hours, or it can be dried by an electric fan in five to ten minutes. You can then mount and present the print in any of the conventional ways.

Exercises

Try this exercise: Exercise 1

IV.A. Language

Sequence

Sequence, or order, is important in giving instructions. The table below shows some common expressions used.

Firstly, The first step is

First of all, The first stage is

To begin with, … begins with

Initially … commences with

Beforehand, Before this,

Previously, Prior to this,

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Earlier,

At the same time, During

Simultaneously, When this happens

While

Secondly, Thirdly etc After this,

Next, The next step is

Then, In the next stage,

Subsequently, In the following stage,

Later, Following this,

As soon as the committee has finished its work, …

Eventually, … until …

Lastly … finishes with …

Finally, concludes with

In the last stage, The last step is …

- Manner - how something is done

in such a way that...slowly, carefully, etcwith care/precisionin a careful way/manner

- Purpose - why something is done

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so as to … so as not to …so that …in order to …in order not to

(Back to Introduction )

- Method - how something is done.First of all, letters and packets are collected in bags from pillar boxes.This is done by placing them in the appropriate pigeon hole.The baskets are directed to the appropriate secondary sorting section by means of coding pegs. The drainage is accelerated by suction.The vapour is then compressed by means of a compressor.

- Position - where something happensThey are then taken to the sorting office, where the bags are emptied.The pulp goes to the mixer, where materials are added to improve the quality of the paper.The steam from the boiler is admitted into the cylinder in which there is a piston.

- PurposeFollowing this step, the letters are put through machines so that the stamps can be cancelled.This is then chemically etched to reduce its thickness.From there it is absorbed by plants to build carbohydrates in green leaves. In order to take heat out of the low-temperature interior of the refrigerator, work must be done. (Back to Introduction)

V. Classifying / categorising

When we classify, we arrange members of a group. For example, if we take the following list:Physics, Chemistry, Biology, French, German, Spanish.It is quite clear that we have two different types of word. We have science subjects and languages. So it is simple to divide the list into two:Physics, Chemistry, Biology, AND French, German, SpanishWhen we are classifying, we often need to say what our classification is and how we are making it.

Examples

Read the following text.

We can divide lavas into two contrasting types, acid and basic. Acid or siliceous lavas have a high silica content, about 70 to 75 per cent, and are stiff or viscous. They move slowly over the surface and solidify close to the vent. Basic lavas have a silica content of about 50 per cent. They are dark colored and fluid, and they flow more easily at lower temperatures and reach a greater distance from the crater than do acid lavas.

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Adapted from This earth of ours, p3.

What is the text classifying? Lavas. How many types are there? 2 What are the two types? Acid and basic. How do we make the distinction? The amount of silica present.

Read the following texts and answer the questions below:

There are three main types of volcanic eruptions: (1) the explosive type, in which the volcano thows out rock fragments with explosive violence; (2) the quiet type, in which hot liquid rock quietly flows on the surface; (3) the intermediate type, which are sometimes violent and at other times consist of the quiet outflowing of lava.

Adapted from This earth of ours. p. 5-6

Bipods and tripods

There are two sorts of people in this world, says Alistair Mant, and one of them ought never to be promoted to high rank. One sort thinks of life, and success, in terms of his or her relationships with other people - the object being to control, dominate or seduce the other in the interest of personal survival. These are the bipods, or raiders. The other sort are tripods or builders (ternary thinkers as opposed to binary thinkers). For them the question is not so much ‘Shall I win?’ but ‘What’s it for?’ For these people there is a third corner to all relation-ships - the task or the purpose. They can, says Mant, run personal risks in pursuit of some high purpose and can observe themselves in their relationships. They can, as it were, see the joke.

Mant argues that the raider or bipod mentality may thrive for a time but that this form of flawed leadership eventually self-destructs, while if you ask people for examples of great leaders in their own experience they will speak of teachers, managers, fathers (or, more likely, mothers) who were uncompromising in the pursuit of a task or a vision (the third corner).

‘Transforming leadership’ (the term used by James MacGregor Burns) is tripod thinking, while ‘transactional leadership’ is closer to the bipod mode. Similarly, Adorno’s idea of the authoritarian personality fits the raider, not the builder. We need more builders and fewer raiders in our homes, schools, politics and businesses, but the British tradition fosters the raider, not the builder.

A. Mant, Leaders We Deserve. 1984

Blood Type

Blood Type, in medicine, is the classification of red blood cells by the presence of specific substances on their surface. Typing of red blood cells is a prerequisite for blood transfusion. In the early part of the 20th century, physicians discovered that blood transfusions often failed because the blood type of the recipient was not compatible with that of the donor. In 1901 the Austrian pathologist Karl Landsteiner classified blood types and discovered that they were transmitted by

24


Mendelian heredity. The four blood types are known as A, B, AB, and O. Blood type A contains red blood cells that have a substance A on their surface. This type of blood also contains an antibody directed against substance B, found on the red cells of persons with blood type B. Type B blood contains the reverse combination. Serum of blood type AB contains neither antibody, but red cells in this type of blood contain both A and B substances. In type O blood, neither substance is present on the red cells, but the individual is capable of forming antibodies directed against red cells containing substance A or B. If blood type A is transfused into a person with B type blood, anti-A antibodies in the recipient will destroy the transfused A red cells. Because O type blood has neither substance on its red cells, it can be given successfully to almost any person. Persons with blood type AB have no antibodies and can receive any of the four types of blood; thus blood types O and AB are called universal donors and universal recipients, respectively. Other hereditary blood-group systems have subsequently been discovered. The hereditary blood constituent called Rh factor is of great importance in obstetrics and blood transfusions because it creates reactions that can threaten the life of newborn infants. Blood types M and N have importance in legal cases involving proof of paternity.

Microsoft Encarta

Type A and Type B

Friedman and Rosenham first distinguished between Type A and Type B people. Individuals with certain behavioural traits were found to be more susceptible to coronary heart disease (Type A) than the low-risk Type B individuals.

Type A people are characterized by ‘extreme competitiveness, striving for achievement, aggressiveness, haste, impatience, restlessness. hyperalertness, explosiveness of speech, tenseness of facial musculature and feelings of being under pressure of time and under the challenge of responsibility’. Type B were more laid back.

A national sample in the United States of 3,400 men (without heart disease) was judged by a panel of psychiatrists and rated A or B. Two and a half years later Type A men aged between 39 and 49 had 6.5 times the incidence of coronary heart disease of the Type B men. Between 50 and 59 the incidence was 1.9 times higher. When a similar study was done on Benedictine and Trappist monks the same sort of difference emerged!

In 1976 Howard et al. looked at 236 managers and found that extreme Type A behaviour was associated with a range of known risk factors (high blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid, smoking and lack of fitness).

What is the text classifying? How many types are there? What are the two types? How do we make the distinction?

V.A. Language

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The tables below show some of the most common language used in sentences which have classification as their purpose.

There are

two

typeskindsclassescategoriessortsvarieties

of lava

: acidic and basic.. These are acidic and basic.

The are acidic and basic.

Lavaconsists ofcomprisescan be divided into

two

categoriesclasseskindstypesvarieties

. These are acidic and basic.: acidic and basic.

Acidic and basic are

classeskindstypescategoriesvarieties

of lava.

We can classify lava

according toon the basis of

depending on

amount of silica present.

VI. Giving examples

In academic speaking it is common to make generalisations. It is often useful to support these generalisations with examples.

Examples

Look at the way examples are given in the following texts.

The quiet outpouring of lava is characteristic of basaltic lavas with about 50 per cent silica. The Hawaiian volcanoes are typical examples. On the island of Hawaii, Mauna Loa rises 13, 675 feet above sea level and 20 miles away is Kilauea 4,000 feet high.

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Though the authorities do not seem to have been aware of the scale and significance of capital flows within the sterling area, they were aware that the exchange controls in that area were not all that London hoped. For example, a major recipient of capital from the UK in this period, Australia, had notoriously "leaky" controls.

Morgan was not interested in the terms for themselves but in the principles which they seemed to reveal when they were put together. For example, he would have been interested in the fact that the English word "uncle" can be used in speaking both of one's mother's brother and one's father's brother while in Swedish, for instance, two different words are used.

To understanding this religious social consciousness, we require some grasp of the traditional Catholic teaching on the natural order and the good society, and how the nation is to respect the divine order established by God. We can see an example of this if we take the recent contraception controversy which began in the 1960s.

What socialism there has been among the catholic-nationalist tradition has always tended to be allied to republicanism, especially in the period 1913 to 1930 (Rumpf and Hepburn 1977: 13). The trade union movement was a case in point.

This was the situation which Morgan described for the Iroquois when several tribes get together, not any more on the basis of kinship or marriage, but on the basis of confederacy. This was exemplified by the league of the Iroquois which Morgan had studied in detail.

A key experiment shows this. A hole is made in the shell and a small cube of cells is carefully cut out from the posterior margin containing the polarizing region and grafted into the anterior margin of the limb bud of another embryo.

The explanation behind that paradox is once again the problem of the two uses of anthropology in their work. The rhetorical use they made of anthropologists' ideas as a source for a criticism of the society of their time, especially as a criticism of the way institutions such as the family, marriage, and the status of women were seen as unchangeable and eternally fixed, is one which seems totally justified to present-day anthropologists.

VI.A. Language

27


Weshowexemplifyillustrate

this.... by ...

For example,For instance, ...

A key experimentshowsexemplifiesillustrates

this. ...

This is shown by the following examples,The following are examples of this:The following is a case in point:

...

... is a case in point.

... institutions such as the family ...


VII. Including charts and diagrams

It is often useful when you are speaking to include reference to tables and charts.

Example

Look at the following example:

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If you look at Figure 1, you can see the sales of mobile phones per month. You can see that it covers the years 1998 to 2001. It shows that the sales of mobile phones declined steadily in 1998, then remained steady from May until the end of the year. As the graph shows, the sales then rose, more and more steeply, throughout 1999, and there was a large increase at the end of the year. Sales reached a peak of 6,200 in February 2000. There was then a sharp fall, as you can see, but sales levelled off at about 5,300 per month in April. They then fluctuated slightly through the year, and are now increasing again.

VII.A. Language

Referring to a diagram, chart etc.

As you can see

fromin the

chart,diagram,table,graph,figures,statistics,

...

We can see that ...

As you can seefromin

Table 1,Figure 2,Graph 3,

…

We can see

As the

chartdiagramtablegraph

shows,indicates,

…

figuresstatistics

show,indicate,

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From

Table 1Figure 2

wecan

may

seeconcludeshowestimatecalculateinfer

that ...

thefigureschartdiagram

Describing change

X

increasedshot upgrewrose

by ...declinedreduceddecreaseddroppedfell

X

increasedshot upgrewrose

slightlyslowlygraduallysteadilymarkedlydramaticallysteeplysharplyrapidlysuddenly

declinedreduceddecreaseddroppedfell

X reached a peak.levelled off

( Back to Introduction )

VIII. Comparison and contrast

When you are speaking at university, you need to do much more than just give information. You should always be trying to do something with your speaking. One

30




common function is comparing and contrasting, speaking about similarities and differences. There are many ways of expressing comparison and contrast in English.

Example

Look at the following table and read the text below. Pay attention to the comparisons and contrasts.

Price Processor Speed Screen Size Hard Disk RAM

Evesham Axis 1.33 SK £1,174 1.33 GHz 17" 40 GB 256 MB

Armani R850 P4. £2,467 1.7 GHz 19" 40 GB 256 MB

Mesh Elite 1.7GT Pro £1,938 1.7 GHz 19" 57 GB 256 MB

Elonex WebRider Pro £1,174 1.2 GHz 17" 38.1 GB 128 MB

We compared three personal computers, the Evesham Axis 1.33 SK, the Armani R850 P4 and the Mesh Elite 1.7 GT Pro, with respect to the following factors: price, processor speed and size of hard disk. The Evesham Axis, which costs £1,174, is by far the cheapest of the three, the Armani and the Mesh Elite costing £2,467 and £1,938 respectively. The Evesham Axis has the same hard disk size as the Armani, 40 MB, whereas the Mesh Elite is the largest at 57 GB. Regarding the processor speed, the Armani and the Mesh Elite are similar - the processor speed, at 1.7 GHz, being 0.37 GHz faster than the Evesham Axis.

Exercise

Try this exercise: Exercise 1, Exercise 2

VIII.A. Language

- Comparison

The Evesham Axis is like the Elonex WebRiderThe Evesham Axis and the Elonex WebRider are similarThe Evesham Axis is similar to the Elonex WebRiderThe Evesham Axis is the same as the Elonex WebRiderThe Evesham Axis resembles the Elonex WebRider

with respect to price.as regards price.as far as price is concerned.regarding price.in that the price is the same.in terms of price.in price.

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http://www.uefap.com/speaking/exercise/function/compcon2.htm

http://www.uefap.com/speaking/exercise/function/compcont.htm


Both the Evesham Axis and the Elonex WebRider cost £1,174.The Evesham Axis is as expensive as the Elonex WebRider.The Evesham Axis costs the same as the Elonex WebRider.The Evesham Axis is the same price as the Elonex WebRider.

The Mesh Elite has a large screen.

Similarly, it has a high capacity hard disk.Likewise, it has a high capacity hard disk.Correspondingly, it has a high capacity hard disk.It has a high capacity hard disk, too.It also has a high capacity hard disk.

- Contrast

The Evesham Axis differs from the ArmaniThe Evesham Axis is unlike the ArmaniThe Evesham Axis and the Armani differThe Evesham Axis is different from the ArmaniThe Evesham Axis contrasts with the Armani

with respect to price.as regards price.as far as price concerned.regarding price.in terms of price.in price.

The Evesham Axis costs £1,174, whereas the Armani costs £2,467.The Evesham Axis costs £1,174, while the Armani costs £2,467.The Evesham Axis costs £1,174, but the Armani costs £2,467.The Evesham Axis costs £1,174, in contrast to the Armani , which costs £2,467.The Armani is more expensive than the Evesham Axis.The Evesham Axis is not as expensive as the Armani.The Armani costs more than the Evesham Axis.

The Armani is expensive to buy.

On the other hand, it is very fast and has a large screen.In contrast, it is very fast and has a large screen.Conversely, it is very fast and has a large screen.However, it is very fast and has a large screen.

Although the Armani is expensive to buy,Despite the high price of the Armani, it is very fast and has a large screen.


IX. Generalizing

A common organisational principle in academic speaking is the general-specific pattern. This pattern involves a general statement supported by specific examples or details.

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Example

Look at the following examples of generalisations. In some cases the generalisations are supported by details or examples.

It believed that the USA wanted a round-the-world air route with access to all countries including the Soviet Union, China, the Middle East, and Africa, as well as the British Commonwealth and Empire.

Marx and Engels followed their contemporaries in believing that the history of mankind usually went through the same sequence of technological improvement. The sequence, by and large, went like this: first gathering of plants and small animals, second fishing, third hunting, fourth pottery, fifth pastoralism, sixth agriculture, seventh metalworking.

Throughout most of known human existence the processes, materials and tools of production were available to individuals who were involved in both utilitarian and expressive work. But, since the Renaissance the exponential growth and sophistication of technology has made it impossible for the majority of artists to gain access to many potential tools for expression.

Language

Percentage Quantity Frequency Certainty Verbs

100%

all/every/eachmosta majority (of)many/muchsomea number (of)severala minority (of)a few/a little

alwaysusual(ly)normal(ly)general(ly)as a ruleon the wholeoftenfrequent(ly)sometimesoccasional(ly)

certain(ly)definite(ly)undoubtedlyclearlypresumablyprobably/probablelikelyconceivablypossibly/possibleperhapsmaybe

willis/aremusthave toshouldought tocancouldmaymight

0%

few/littleno/none/not any

rare(ly)seldomhardly everscarcely evernever

uncertainunlikely could not

will notcannotis/are not

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Some of the probability qualifications can he further qualified, e.g.

It is

fairly certainlikely

that …

veryquite

probablepossiblelikelyunlikely

rather unlikely

almostquite certain

Sometimes generalisations may be introduced or qualified in the following way:

In

the (vast) majoritya large number of

cases, …mostsomea few(+ other “quantity” words)


X. Expressing degrees of certainty

It is important when you are speaking to show how sure you are about something. In other words, you need to show the degree of certainty.

ExamplesLook at the following examples:

We do not know, and will probably never know, when he began writing poetry. The answer almost certainly lay in the sack of papers that Susan Owen, on her son's strict instructions, burnt at his death.

Less finished, but more intimate, is a passage from a fragmentary "Ballad of a Morose Afternoon", which he most probably wrote some time after he had left Dunsden.

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There were, broadly, two interrelated reasons for this. The first was related to Britain's economic and imperial difficulties, and the second to the internal dissension in all three parties. This was , perhaps , asymptom of the need for a realignment of political parties.

X.A. Language

Verbs Degree of certainty

complete is (not)will (not)must (not)

certain(ly)definite(ly)clear(ly)undoubtedly

strong can/cannotshould (not

probably (is)presumably

partial could (not) likely/unlikely

less strong may (not)might (not)

possibly (not)perhaps (not)

impersonal (i.e. no commitment)

It is said that ...It appears that ...A reports that ...There is evidence to suggest that… (etc.)


XI. Cause and effect

Exercise

Read the following text and identify the cause and effect relationships.

HEADACHESAlmost everyone experiences headaches, with their characteristic pain or throbbing sensation in the head, are an extremely common complaint, at some time or other. Occasionally, they are a symptom of an underlying disorder, but, if they occur on their own, developing gradually and clearing up with no side-effects, they are probably totally harmless, apart from the discomfort they cause. Probably the commonest form of headache is caused by tension, from the contraction of the muscles of the neck, shoulders and scalp. The second commonest is the result of the swelling of local blood vessels. Many factors can contribute to this. These range from stress, sleeplessness and drinking and eating too much, to noise and stuffy rooms, but, as far as tension headaches are

35



concerned, one of the commonest causes is poor posture. The muscles of the neck become tense and sore because they have to support the considerable weight of the head in an awkward position. Another common cause is eye strain. This can be due to the simple need for glasses. If headaches persist, it is as well to go to an optician for a check-up, and to work in a good light.

Take the following sentence:The death rate from cancer is increasing.

We might want to ask why this is happening. We want the cause of this. The reason, or the cause, is that:

People are smoking more.The death rate from cancer is increasing is the effect.People are smoking more is the cause.

Example Read the following text and observe the cause and effect relationships.

There are several factors that we have to take into account when we study why some plants become weak or die. One reason is lack of water. If the soil is dry, it causes the leaves to wilt, and this may cause the plant to die. On the other hand, too much water may result in the leaves drooping, or becoming yellow. While plants need sunshine, if it is too strong, the soil may be baked and the roots killed. However, if there is no light, the leaves will become pale and the stems thin. Consequently the plant may die.

Lack of water dryness in the soil leaves to wilt death of plant. Too much water leaves droop or become yellow plant dies. Too strong sun baked soil roots killed. Lack of light pale leaves & thin stems plant dies.

Exercise


XI. A. Language

This relationship can be expressed in many ways:

- Emphasising cause.

The death rate from cancer is increasing becauseowing to the fact that people are smoking more.

- Emphasising effect.

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http://www.uefap.com/speaking/exercise/function/causeff.htm


AsBecauseSince

people are smoking more, the death rate from cancer is increasing.

People are smoking more.

Therefore,So,Thus,Hence,Consequently, Because of this,For this reason,As a consequence,As a result,

the death rate from cancer is increasing.

People are smoking more,

as a result of whichas a consequence of whichwith the result that

- Emphasising cause.

The fact that the death rate from cancer is increasing is due tomay be due to people smoking more.

TheOne

reason forcause of

the death rate from cancerincreasing is that

could be that people are smoking more.

An increase in the death rate from cancer

ismay be

one effect ofone result ofone consequence ofcaused bydue tobecause of people smoking more.

results fromarises from

- Emphasising effect.

Owing to people smoking more, the death rate from cancer is increasing.

37


OneThe

effect ofresult ofconsequence of

people smoking more

is that the death rate from cancer is increasing.

is to increase the death rate from cancer.

People smoking more

results inleads toproducescausesis the cause ofgives rise tobrings about

an increase in the death rate from cancer.

People smoke more,(so)(thus)(thereby)

resulting inleading toproducingcausinggiving rise tobringing about

an increase in the death rate from cancer.

If people smoke more the death rate from cancer will increase.

Exercise



XII. Arguing & Discussing

In academic life, arguing and discussing is often part of a larger element of speaking. In arguing and discussing, you are expected to present two or more points of view and discuss the positive and negative aspects of each case. On the basis of your discussion, you can then choose one point of view and persuade your readers that you are correct. This means giving your opinions (positive and negative) on the work of others and your own opinions based on what you have learned. You need to evaluate arguments, weigh evidence and develop a set of standards on which to base your conclusion.

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http://www.uefap.com/speaking/exercise/function/causeff2.htm


As always, all your opinions must be supported - you should produce your evidence and explain why this evidence supports your point of view. It is important to distinguish between your claim (proposition, thesis) - your point of view, what you believe; your evidence (support or grounds) - the facts, data and examples that support your point of view - and your reasons (warrant or argument) - why you believe what you do, how the evidence you have provided leads to the claim your are making. (See Toulmin, 1958).

There are two main methods of presenting an argument, and in general the one you choose will depend on exactly what the speaking task is(See Writing: Understanding the question and Organising the answer for more information).

a. The balanced view

In this case you present both sides of an argument, without necessarily committing yourself to any opinions, which should always be based on evidence, until the conclusion.

At its simplest your essay plan will be as follows:

Introduce the argument to the reader.e.g. why it is a particularly relevant topic nowadays or refer directly to some comments that have been voiced on it recently.

Give you reasons in favour of the argumentState your point of view, your evidence and your reasons.

Give your reasons against the argument.State your point of view, your evidence and your reasons.

After summarising the two sides, state your own opinion, and explain why you think as you do.

b. The persuasive talk

This second type of argumentative talk involves stating your own point of view immediately, and trying to convince the reader by reasoned argument that you are right. The form of the talk will be, in outline, as follows:

Introduce the topic briefly in general terms,

39

http://www.uefap.com/writing/writframorg.htm

http://www.uefap.com/writing/writframques.htm


and then state your own opinion.Explain what you plan to prove in the talk.

Give your reasons against the argument.Dispose briefly of the main objections to your case. Provide evidence and your reasons.

Give your reasons for your argument,the arguments to support your own view,with evidence, reasons and examples.

Conclusion - Do not repeat your opinion again.End your talk with something memorablee.g. a quotation or a direct question.

Example

Read the following examples: Example 1, Example 2.

Exercise


XII.A. Language

- Presenting another point of view

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http://www.uefap.com/speaking/exercise/function/argue1.htm

http://www.uefap.com/speaking/function/argueex2.htm

http://www.uefap.com/speaking/function/argueex1.htm


Some peopleXIn a study of Y, X

maintain(s)say(s)argue(s)assert(s)believe(s)claim(s)point(s) outis/are of the opinionseem(s) to believe

that

…

It is the view of XThe opinion of X isIt can be arguedIt has been suggestedIt might be said

According to X

- Commenting on another point of view

Negatively

TheyHeSheXThis

is/aremay beseem(s) to bewould seem to be

somewhatrather-

mistaken.wrong.rigid.inadequate.

X’s

approachpositionmethodsbeliefs

ThisThese views

is/are

open to doubt.not always the case.not necessarily true.unlikely to be true.highly debatable.incorrect.highly speculative.

Cannot be upheld.

41


Serious doubtsreservations

canmay be raised against this.

I disagree with X when he writessays that …

However, it is clear that …

One of the main arguments against X is that …

One disadvantage ofAnother point againstA further argument againstOne other disadvantage of

X

is …

One objection to this argument

Plus negative words: wrong, mistaken, false, erroneous, misplaced, inaccurate, incorrect, debateable, untrue, not the case.

- Positively

I agree with X when he writessays that …

X is certainly correctX may be correct

when he saysthat …

in saying

One advantage ofAnother point in favour ofA further argument supportingOne other advantage ofOne of the main arguments in favour of

X is …

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Plus positive words: correct, right, accurate.

- Presenting own point of view

There are many reasons why …

It is

importanttruenecessaryessential

torememberbear in mindpoint out

that …

The first thingFirst of all,

we haveI would like to consider is

…

The first thing to be considered is

It is a factThere is no doubtI believe

that …

The first reason why … is … First of all, …The second reason why … is … Secondly, …The most important …In addition, …Furthermore, …What is more, …Besides, …Another reason is …A further point is …

- Qualification

In all cases points of view may be qualified and generalisations may be made. You may also have different degrees of certainty about your claims.


XIII. Introductions

The purpose of the introduction is to show your listener what you are doing in your talk. It is also helpful to explain why you are doing it and how you are doing it.

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http://www.uefap.com/speaking/function/certain.htm

http://www.uefap.com/speaking/function/general.htm


For that reason, there are usually three main parts in the introduction. The most useful description is given by Swales (1990, pp. 137-165)

- Research Report Introductions

Move 1

Establishing a research territory

a. by showing that the general research area is important, central, interesting, problematic, or relevant in some way.

b. by introducing and reviewing items of previous research in the area.

Move 2

Establishing a niche

a. by indicating a gap in the previous research, raising a question about it, or extending previous knowledge in some way.

Move 3

Occupying the niche

a. by outlining purposes or stating the nature of the present research.

b. by indicating the structure of the RP.

Move 1: Establishing a research territory

Note particularly the language used in the first two sentences to express Move la.

Of particular interest and complexity are .... Recently, there has been growing interest in .... The development of ... has led to the hope that.... The .., has become a favourite topic for analysis .... The study of ... has become an important aspect of .... A central issue in ... is .... Many researchers have extensively studied ... in recent years. Many recent studies have focused on ....

Move 2: Establishing a niche

In many ways, Move 2 is the key move in Introductions. It connects Move 1 (what has been done) to Move 3 (what the present research will do). Move 2 thus establishes the reason for the study. By the end of Move 2, the listener should have a good idea of what is going to come in Move 3.

Move 2s establish a niche by indicating a gap. Probably the most common way to indicate a gap is to use a “negative” subject. Presumably, negative subjects are chosen because they signal immediately to the reader that Move 1 has come to an end. Note the following uses of little and few:

44


However, there is little information/attention/work/data/research .... However, few studies/investigations/researchers/attempts ....

Of course, not all RP Introductions express Move 2 by indicating an obvious gap. You may prefer, for various reasons, to avoid negative comment altogether. In such cases, a useful alternative is to use a contrastive statement.

The research has tended to focus on ...,rather than on .... These studies have emphasised ...,as opposed to .... Although considerable research has been devoted to ... , rather less attention has been

paid to .... The previous research ... has concentrated on .... Most studies have been content to .... So far, investigations have been confined to ...

Move 3: Occupying the Niche

The third and final step is to show you want to fill the gap (or answer the question) that has been created in Move 2.

The purpose of this talk is to ... The purpose of this investigation is to ... The aim of this paper is to ... This paper reports on the results obtained .... This study was designed to ... The subject of this talk is … This talk is designed to … This paper argues that ....

In this talk, we give results of ... In this paper, we argue that .... What I/we'd like to do is to discuss … What I/we intend to do is to explain … In my/our talk today, … My/our topic today is … Today, I'm/we're going to talk about … I'm/We're going to talk to you about … My colleagues and I are going to give a short presentation on … Today I/we want to consider … In this talk, I/we would like to concentrate on …

We have organise the rest of this talk in the following way .... This presentation is structured as follows .... The remainder of this paper is divided into five sections .... I'm/We're going to deal with three aspects of the subject … I'm/We're going to divide my presentation into three sections. I/We've divided my presentation into three sections. I/We thought it would be useful to divide my/our talk into three sections. This subject can be looked at under the following headings: …

45


Example

Identify the moves in the following introductions:

THE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY AND SPECIFIC HEAT OF EPOXY RESIN FROM 0.1 TO 8.0K.

We still do not completely understand the thermal properties of glassy materials at low temperatures. We know that the thermal conductivity has a plateau, and this is usually in the range 5 to 10K. We know that below this temperature it is dependent on temperature and it varies approximately as T. But, the specific heat below 4K is much larger than that which would be expected from the Debye theory and it often has an additional term which is proportional to T. We have made some progress towards understanding the thermal behaviour by assuming that there is a cut-off in the photon spectrum at high frequencies. This has been shown by, for example, Zaitlin and Anderson. We also know that there is an additional system of low-lying two-level states. this comes from the work of Anderson and colleagues and Phillips. Nevertheless we need more experimental data and in particular we think it would be useful to make experiments on glassy samples whose properties can be varied slightly from one to the other. In the present investigation, we report our attempts to do this by using various samples of the same epoxy resin which have been subjected to different curing cycles. We have taken measurements of the specific heat (or the diffusing) and the thermal conductivity in the temperature range 0.1 to 80K for a set of specimens which covered up to nine different curing cycles.(Kelham and Rosenburg, 1981)

Researchers have studied the communities living in the Malinche volcano area in the Mexican states of Tlaxcala and Pueblafind and have found an elaborate system of marking social distance and respect in the morphology of the language Nahuatl which is spoken there. The research raises questions of considerable interest for our understanding of the form and function of systems such as the complexity of the morphology involved, the semantic range of the elements, and the variation in the system in use raise, both in Nahuatl itself and in other languages.All the grammarians of Classical Nahuatl have reported a system of elements usually referred to as 'honorifics' or 'reverentials' (cf. Olmos, 1547; Molina, 1571a; Carochi, 1645; Simeon, 1885; Garibay, 1970; Anderson, 1973; Andrews, 1975). Other researchers have reported similar systems for several modern varieties of Nahuatl (cf. Whorf, 1946 for Milpa Alta in the Federal District; Pitman, 1948 for Tetelcingo in Morelos; and Buchler and Freeze, 1966 and Buhler, 1967 for Hueyapan and Atempan in northern Puebla). But, none of these reports, except for Pittman's describes the system in much detail. In our presentation today, we would like to give more details based on materials collected in 1974-75 and during the summer of 1976 in a linguistic survey of Nahuatl-speaking communities on the western and south-western slopes of the Malinche volcano.

In recent years applied researchers have become increasingly interested in the interpersonal relationships with manager-subordinate dyads. They have focused on actual similarity between managers and their subordinates as related to managers’ appraisals of subordinates’ performance (Miles, 1964; Nieva, 1976; Rude, 1970; Senger, 1971), subordinates’ job satisfaction (Huber, 1970) and subordinates’ evaluations of their managers (Weiss, 1977).

Ina few studies, researchers have examined the extent to which subordinates congruently perceive their managers (referred to here as “subordinate’s perceptual congruence”). These studies suggest

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that subordinates who are more perceptually aware of their superiors’ work-related attitudes receive higher performance evaluations (Golmieh, 1974; Green, 1972; Labovitz, 1972) and are more satisfied with their superiors (Howard, 1968).

But, each of these previous studies has researched only a part of this complex dyadic interpersonal relationship. First, none of the studies has examined the effects of a manager’s congruent perception of a subordinate’s work-related attitudes (i.e., “manager’s perceptual congruence”). Second, no studies can be found that directly compare the relative importance of actual similarity with that of perceptual congruence. Third, none of the previous studies has looked at interpersonal perception by the manager and by the subordinates simultaneously within the same dyad.

The purpose of our present field investigation was to study both actual similarity and perceptual congruence and to examine them from the perspective of both the manager and the subordinate. In the study, we investigated the relationships of these perceptual processes in two important organizational outcomes: subordinates’ satisfaction with work and supervision, and managers’ evaluations of subordinates’ job performance. Specifically, we examined: (a) the relative magnitude of perceptual congruence and actual similarity with these two organizational outcomes; (b) whether the more congruently a subordinate perceives the manager (subordinate’s perceptual congruence), the more satisfied the subordinate will be; and (c) whether the more congruently a manager perceives the subordinate (manager’s perceptual congruence), the higher they will evaluate the subordinate’s performance.

(Reference: Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.)


XIV. Drawing conclusions

Examples

Read the following conclusions:

So we've seen that water-related problems continue to affect millions of people and, contrary to what most people believe, future water supplies will not last for ever. So the situation is very serious, especially in view of the UN estimates of what we will need in the future. Of course, there are many projects trying to provide ever-increasing supplies of water and these indicate that a growing number of countries are aware of the present problems and of those to come. However, these more often than not are highly expensive and not very practical. They are also very time-consuming and time is a commodity which is in short supply. So, while research in these areas is important, we feel that the eventual solution would definitely be to conserve water worldwide and control pollution. In other words, we need to respect our most valuable natural resource much more than we do.

In conclusion, it is certainly true that the twentieth century gave us some advantages by, for

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example, making us richer, healthier and freer to enjoy our lives. However, in our opinion, it did not make us wiser. The twentieth century also made our earth dirtier, our people less humane, and our spiritual lives poorer. We should, of course, continue to enjoy the benefits of technological advancements because they free us to pursue our interests and goals. However, we must make a concerted effort to preserve our natural environment for future generations. Moreover, we should take the time now to make our lives more meaningful in an increasingly impersonal, computerised world.

XIV.A. Language

In short,In a word,In brief,To sum up,To conclude,To summariseIn conclusion,On the whole,Altogether,In all,

...

It is generallywidely

acceptedarguedheldbelieved

that …

Therefore,Thus,On this basis,Given this,

it canmay be

concludeddeducedinferred

that …

From

Table 1

it canmay be

seenconcludedshownestimatedcalculatedinferred

that …

the

tablefiguresdataresultsinformation

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In conclusion,Finally

we/may sayit can/may be said that …

Rhetorical Functions in Academic Speaking: Tests

Narrating & reporting

Using the information given here, give a short presentation on the history of the space age.

Writing instructions

Give instructions for something you know how to do.

Classifying/categorising

Describe the education system in your country. Explain about the different kinds of schools and how they are organised.

Comparing and contrasting

Compare the education systems in UK and your country. Explain about the similarities and differences.

Cause and effect

Explain how something works.

Arguing & Discussing

Talk about something you feel strongly about. Anticipate the other point of view and explain why it is wrong.

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http://www.uefap.com/speaking/exercise/function/space.htm



1. Narrating & reporting

Using the information given here, give a short talk on the history of the space age.

Year Event

1926 First launch of a liquid fuel rocket: Robert Goddard (United States)

1957 First satellite orbits Earth: Sputnik 1 (U.S.S.R.); first animal in space: Sputnik 2 (U.S.S.R.)

1958 First U.S. satellite launched and first scientific discovery in space (Van Allen radiation belt): Explorer 1; first satellite to use solar power: Vanguard (United States)

1959 First craft to leave gravity of Earth: Luna 1 probe to the Moon (U.S.S.R.); first craft to impact another world: Luna 2 probe to the Moon (U.S.S.R.); first craft to photograph the Moon’s far side: Luna 3 (U.S.S.R.); first television images from space: Explorer 6 (United States)

1960 First U.S. weather satellite: Tiros 1

1961 First human in space and to orbit Earth: Yuri A. Gagarin (U.S.S.R.), in the Vostok 1; first U.S. astronaut into space (suborbital) Alan B. Shepard Jr. in Mercury- Redstone 3; first interplanetary probe: Venera 1 to Venus (U.S.S.R.)

1962 First U.S. astronaut to orbit Earth: John Herschel Glenn Jr. in Mercury-Atlas 6; first successful scientific planetary mission, the fly-by of Venus: Mariner 2 (United States); first observatory in space: Orbiting Solar Observatory 1 (United States)

1963 First woman in space: Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova in Vostok 6 (U.S.S.R.)

1964 First successful fly-by of Mars: Mariner 4 (United States); first multiperson space mission: Voskhod I (U.S.S.R.)

1965 First spacewalk: Alexei Leonov in Voskhod 2 (U.S.S.R.); first U.S. spacewalk: Edward H. White II in Gemini 4

1966 First craft to enter the atmosphere of another planet (Venus): Venera 2 (U.S.S.R.); first unmanned spacecraft to soft land on the Moon: Luna 9 (U.S.S.R.); first unmanned spacecraft to orbit another world (Moon): Luna 10 (U.S.S.R.); first U.S. unmanned soft landing on the Moon: Surveyor 1

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1968 First humans to orbit another world (Moon), Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders in Apollo 8 (United States)

1969 First humans on another world (Moon), July 20, Neil Alden Armstrong and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. in Apollo 11 and first samples of the Moon returned to Earth (United States) (Mike Collins orbited the Moon in the Command Module)

1970 First unmanned spacecraft to return samples of another world to Earth (Moon): Luna 16 (U.S.S.R.); first roving vehicle on the Moon: Luna 17 (U.S.S.R.)

1971 First manned space station: Salyut (U.S.S.R.); first human-operated roving vehicle on another world (Moon): Apollo 15 (United States); first soft-landing on another planet (Mars): Mars 3 (U.S.S.R.)

1973 First fly-by of Jupiter: Pioneer 10 (United States); first U.S. space station: Skylab 1

1974 First fly-by of Mercury: Mariner 10 (United States); first duel-planet mission (Venus and Mercury): Mariner 10 (United States)

1975 First photos from the surface of Venus: Venera 9 (U.S.S.R.); first international space flight: Apollo-Soyuz (United States and U.S.S.R.)

1976 First unmanned Mars landing: Viking 1 (United States); first craft to search for life on another planet: Viking 1 (United States)

1979 First fly-by of Saturn: Pioneer 11 (United States)

1980-1984

First satellite to be retrieved, repaired, and redeployed in space: Solar Maximum Mission (United States); launch (1980), repair mission (1984), ceased functioning (1989)

1981 Flight of the first space shuttle: John Watts Young and Robert L. Crippen, of the United States (and first reusable spacecraft with human crew) aboard the Columbia (the Enterprise, the prototype space shuttle, was never flown in space)

1983 First U.S. woman astronaut: Sally Kirsten Ride; first orbital radar mapping of another world: Venera 15 (U.S.S.R.)

1984 First U.S. untethered spacewalk: Bruce McCandless

1985 First spacecraft pictures of comet nucleus (Halley), by Giotto (Europe), though numerous other probes, such as the Vega 1 (U.S.S.R.) and Suisei (Japan), also took pictures; the Vega 1 was the first to reach the comet

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1986 First fly-by of Uranus: Voyager 2 (United States); first permanently inhabited space station: Mir (U.S.S.R.)

1989 First fly-by of Neptune: Voyager 2 (United States)

1991 First fly-by of an asteroid (Gaspra): Galileo (United States)

1994 - 1995

Longest duration spaceflight: 438 days, Valery Polyakov on the Mir space station (Russia)

1995 First U.S. astronaut to board the Russian Mir space station: Norman Thagard; First woman U.S. space shuttle pilot: Eileen M. Collins

(From: The New York Public Library - Science Desk Reference, Macmillan, 1995, pp. 347-348.)

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