Writing process

How to Write a Research Proposal Paper

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 21:41:03 +0000

How to Write a Research Proposal Paper ana.lacerda@ma… Thu, 09/05/2024 - 17:41

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, Research skills

Skills Keywords:

Annotated bibliographies, Literature reviews, Proposals, Writing process

This Resource Page will help you:

Learn what a research proposal paper is. 
Understand the importance of writing a research proposal paper.
Understand the steps in the planning stages of a research proposal paper. 
Identify the components of a research proposal paper.

What is a Research Proposal Paper?

A research proposal paper:  

includes sufficient information about a research study that you propose to conduct for your thesis (e.g., in an MT, MA, or Ph.D. program) or that you imagine conducting (e.g., in an MEd program). It should help your readers understand the scope, validity, and significance of your proposed study.
may be a stand-alone paper or one part of a larger research project, depending on the nature of your assignment.
typically follows the citation format of your field, which at ��ݮ��Ƶ�� is APA.

Your instructor will provide you with assignment details that can help you determine how much information to include in your research proposal, so you should carefully check your course outline and assignment instructions. 

Why Write a Research Proposal Paper?

Writing a research proposal allows you to

develop skills in designing a comprehensive research study;
learn how to identify a research problem that can contribute to advancing knowledge in your field of interest;
further develop skills in finding foundational and relevant literature related to your topic;
critically review, examine, and consider the use of different methods for gathering and analyzing data related to the research problem;
see yourself as an active participant in conducting research in your field of study.

Writing a research proposal paper can help clarify questions you may have before designing your research study. It is helpful to get feedback on your research proposal and edit your work to be able to see what you may need to change in your proposal. The more diverse opinions you receive on your proposal, the better prepared you will be to design a comprehensive research study.

How to Plan your Research Proposal

Before starting your research proposal, you should clarify your ideas and make a plan. Ask yourself these questions and take notes:

What do I want to study?
Why is the topic important? Why is it important to me?
How is the topic significant within the subject areas covered in my class?
What problems will it help solve?
How does it build on research already conducted on the topic?
What exactly should I plan to do to conduct a study on the topic?

It may be helpful to write down your answers to these questions and use them to tell a story about your chosen topic to your classmates or instructor. As you tell your story, write down comments or questions from your listeners. This will help you refine your proposal and research questions.

Research Proposal (student's preliminary notes) (91.11 KB, PDF)

This is an example of how to start planning and thinking about your research proposal assignment. You will find a student’s notes and ideas about their research proposal topic - "Perspectives on Textual Production, Student Collaboration, and Social Networking Sites”.

Structure of a Research Proposal Paper

A research proposal paper typically includes:

Introduction

Start your introduction by giving the reader an overview of your study. Include:

the research context (in what educational settings do you plan to conduct this study?)
the research problem, purpose (What do you want to achieve by conducting this study?)
a brief overview of the literature on your topic and the gap your study hopes to fill
research questions and sub-questions
a brief mention of your research method (How do you plan to collect and analyze your data?)
your personal interest in the topic.

Conclude your introduction by giving your reader a roadmap of your proposal.

To learn more about paper introductions, check How to write Introductions.

Theoretical Framework

A theoretical framework refers to the theories that you will use to interpret both your own data and the literature that has come before. Think about theories as lenses that help you look at your data from different perspectives, beyond just your own personal perspective. Think about the theories that you have come across in your courses or readings that could apply to your research topic. When writing the theoretical framework, include

A description of where the theories come from (original thinkers), their key components, and how they have developed over time.
How you plan to use the theories in your study / how they apply to your topic.

Literature Review

The literature review section should help you identify topics or issues that will help contextualize what the research has/hasn’t found and discussed on the topic so far and convince your reader that your proposed study is important. This is where you can go into more detail on the gap that your study hopes to fill. Ultimately, a good literature review helps your reader learn more about the topic that you have chosen to study and what still needs to be researched

To learn more about literature reviews check What is a Literature Review.

Research Methodology

The methods section should briefly explain how you plan to conduct your study and why you have chosen a particular method. You may also include

your overall study design (quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods) and the proposed stages
your proposed research instruments (e.g. surveys, interviews)
your proposed participant recruitment channels / document selection criteria
a description of your proposed study participants (age, gender, etc.).
how you plan to analyze the data.

You should cite relevant literature on research methods to support your choices.

Implications and Conclusion

The conclusion section should include a short summary about the implications and significance of your proposed study by explaining how the possible findings may change the ways educators and/or stakeholders address the issues identified in your introduction.

Depending on the assignment instructions, the conclusion can also highlight next steps and a timeline for the research process.

To learn more about paper conclusions, check How to write Conclusions.

References

List all references you used and format them according to APA style. Make sure that everything in your reference list is cited in the paper, and every citation in your paper is in your reference list.

To learn more about writing citations and references, check Citations & APA.

Research Proposal Examples

Quantitative Research Proposal (Instructor's Guidelines) (222.05 KB, PDF)

These are detailed guidelines on how to prepare a quantitative research proposal. Adapted from the course APD2293 “Interpretation of Educational Research”.

Research Proposal (Student Sample) (110.27 KB, PDF)

This is a research proposal paper written by an ��ݮ��Ƶ�� student on the relationships between textual production, student collaboration and social networking sites. Hover over the highlighted parts to find annotations and comments about the structure and content of this research proposal.

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

On Campus Services

Revising, Editing & Proofreading

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 20:35:35 +0000

Revising, Editing & Proofreading ana.lacerda@ma… Wed, 08/14/2024 - 16:35

Skills Categories:

Academic writing

Skills Keywords:

Editing, Grammar, Vocabulary, Writing process

This Resource Page Will Help You:

Understand the differences between revising, editing, and proofreading.
Apply these different techniques to your writing process.

Roadmap presenting the fours steps to prepare an academic paper or literature review and indicating you are currently in step 4, part 2, revising, editing and proofreading.

Introduction

After drafting your paper, you need to review it carefully. The review process is divided into three steps: revise, edit and proofread. Contrary to what many people assume, these are not synonyms – they involve different goals, procedures, and outcomes – but each one is integral to a quality written product.

Step 1: Revising

What is Revising?

Revising involves focusing on the content and organization of the overall text and considering sections, passages, or paragraphs that need to be changed, added, or removed.

Think about whether your writing

contributes to the overall purpose of the paper
flows logically and smoothly from one section to another
contains all the important information
avoids unnecessary information.

How to Revise your Paper: Reverse outlining

This is helpful after you’ve written a rough draft and especially when you want to check the logical flow of ideas within a section or paragraph.

Re-read each section of your paper and create an outline of the key points and evidence therein.
Analyze the structure and flow of the paragraphs within a section
If needed, re-organize the paragraph into a more logical order, or recognize points that need to be added or removed.

Reverse outline (example) (48.14 KB, PDF)

This example with annotations shows how a student revised a paper section by identifying the key points to make sure they flow logically.

Tip: Take a break/ask a friend

After completing a rough draft, take some time away from your paper so that you can revise it with a fresh set of eyes or more objectively. You can also ask a friend or classmate to read it over, asking them to pay attention to the clarity of ideas.

Step 2: Editing

What is Editing?

Editing involves focusing on clarity and accuracy of language at the sentence level.

Editing considerations include

Sentence structure
Clarity
Concision
Vocabulary usage
Grammatical accuracy
Tone and formality
Consider the audience (e.g., understanding the differences in writing for a generalist or specialist reader)

How to Edit your Paper

1. Sentence Structure

Using a variety of different sentence structures is most effective in creating a dynamic and readable text. As you edit, make sure that you aren’t using the same structure repeatedly.

One of the most common issues to look out for is the balance between passive and active voice. The passive voice is fine when used selectively but can make a text overly wordy, repetitive, and unclear when overused.

Examples below are taken from: https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/formandstyle/writing/scholarlyvoice/activepassive

Example: Overuse of Passive Voice (Unclear ‘doer’ of the actions)

A survey was administered. Using a convenience sample, 68 teachers were invited to participate in the survey by emailing them an invitation. Email addresses of teachers who fit the requirements for participation were provided by the principal of the school. The teachers were emailed an information sheet and a consent form. Responses were collected from 45 teachers…

Example: Overuse of Active Voice (‘I’ is quite repetitive)

In this study, I administered a survey. I created a convenience sample of 68 teachers. I invited them to participate in the survey by emailing them an invitation. I obtained email addresses from the principal of the school…

Example: Balance between Active and Passive

In this study, I administered a survey using a convenience sample. Sixty-eight teachers were invited to participate in the survey. The principal of the school provided me with the email addresses of teachers who fit the requirements for participation. I emailed the teachers an information sheet and a consent form. A total of 45 teachers responded…

2. Clarity

There are numerous considerations when focusing on clarity, such as providing ample explanations of your points (rather than assuming the reader will understand) or using technical terminology appropriately (see point 7 below).

Here is an example of how to use language effectively for clarity by avoiding unclear pronoun references.

Unclear Example

The income gap between rich and poor has continued to widen over the past decade, contrary to mainstream economists’ predictions. This indicates that new models are required to understand this.

Clear Example

The income gap between rich and poor has continued to widen over the past decade, contrary to mainstream economists’ predictions. This disparity between theory and reality indicates that new models are required to understand this trend.

3. Concision

In the field of Education, the audience for our scholarly works consists of other researchers but also practitioners like school administrators and teachers, sometimes even parents. As such, it is important to use concise and direct language rather than long and complex explanations. Concision makes your writing easier to read and thus more accessible to a wider audience.

Below are eight strategies you can follow to make your text more concise.

Eliminate unnecessary words

Career growth was an important factor in why participants chose to enroll in continuing education. -> Participants enrolled in continuing education for career purposes.

Avoid repetition

TOO REPETITIVE: In my opinion, I think that...
CORRECT: In my opinion...

Cut long introductions

TOO LONG: This point is further supported by the fact that…
CORRECT: Furthermore
TOO LONG: For all intents and purposes, this project will…
CORRECT: This project will

Delete “filler” words

UNNECESSARY FILLER: This reveals that the approach is clearly qualitative…
CORRECT: This reveals that the approach is qualitative…

Construct active sentences

PASSIVE: The error message was written by robots.
ACTIVE AND CONCISE: Robots wrote the error message.

Substitute phrases with a word

A majority of… -> most
Due to the fact that… -> because
At all times… -> always
At the present time… -> currently

Replace “wordy” sentence structures such as relative clauses with adjectives, noun phrases, etc.

Educators face issues that are very serious -> educators face serious issues
A course that focuses on language methodologies -> a course on language methodologies OR a language methodologies course

Replace sentence structures “it is + adjective + that...” or “it + verb + that...” with one verb

It is important that teachers attend professional development courses -> teachers should/must attend professional development courses
It seems that students prefer constructive feedback -> students seem to prefer constructive feedback

Editing for Concision (example) (84.5 KB, PDF)

This example shows how to use concision strategies in a paragraph.

4. Vocabulary usage

There are many vocabulary issues to pay attention to. Examples include

countable/uncountable nouns (Research vs. Studies)
preposition combinations (Research in a field vs. Research on a topic)
function of transition words (Although vs. However)

Here is an example combining all three issues:

Incorrect Example

Although, researches on the field of education argue that students’ social and emotional well-being is as important as their cognitive development.

Correct Example

However, research in the field of education argues that students’ social and emotional well-being is as important as their cognitive development.

5. Grammatical accuracy

Common grammatical errors to be aware of include subject-verb agreement, article usage, and appropriate verb tense among others. Let’s use the same example above to demonstrate:

Incorrect Example

However, research in field of education argue that students’ social and emotional well-being is as important as their cognitive development.

Correct Example

However, research in the field of education argues that students’ social and emotional well-being is as important as their cognitive development.

6. Tone and formality

For different assignments or text types, your academic tone and formality will change. For instance,

traditional research paper: more formal with a “standard” academic style and language
reflective writing: less formal with a more narrative style.

One of the most common strategies to use for a formal academic style is avoiding phrasal verbs and upgrade them to more formal sounding academic verbs.

Example with Phrasal Verbs (not very formal)

Given our fast-paced society, academics must routinely put creative solutions to unexpected problems into practice.

Example with Academic-style Verbs (more formal)

Given our fast-paced society, academics must routinely implement creative solutions to unexpected problems.

7. Consider the audience

With a generalist audience, you need to communicate your thoughts more simply and directly. You can do this by defining key terms and/or avoiding too much jargon (technical terminology).

However, a lot of the writing we do in grad school is for a specialist audience who already know a lot about your topic. In this case, you need to avoid the definitions and explanations provided for generalists because specialists will already be aware of them. When editing your paper, for example, think about how much knowledge your professor (the reader) has about your topic and adjust your language accordingly.

In the following examples, the same sentence is written using specific vocabulary (appropriate for a specialist audience) and explanations of concepts (more appropriate for a generalist audience).

Text for a specialist audience

In the field of language teaching and learning, scholars in the plurilingualism and translanguaging traditions have been working to break down a monolingual approach that has been widely accepted for more than a century.

Text for a generalist audience

In the field of language teaching and learning, scholars who promote theories about using all of one’s languages for language learning have been working to break down a monolingual approach that believes in the strict separation of languages and has been widely accepted for more than a century.

Note: In the generalist example, you can use technical terminology as long as you explain what they mean (e.g., “monolingual”)

Step 3: Proofreading

What is Proofreading?

This process involves looking for smaller technical errors on the levels of spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.

Depending on the formatting style of your discipline or department (APA at ��ݮ��Ƶ��), proofreading also means making sure that you have correct citations, font style and size, references list, etc.

How to Proofread your Paper

1. Find a sample APA paper

There are many minor formatting considerations to take into account with APA and very little room for creativity. In addition to the list above, there are also specific requirements for your cover page, headings, and paragraph spacing. The best way to apply and learn all these specifications is to access a sample APA paper online and then format your paper accordingly.

Make sure it is the correct edition (APA 7th Edition at the time of writing), as the American Psychological Association changes its formatting requirements every few years.

For more information about APA, check our Resource Page on Citations and APA Style.

2. Upgrade your punctuation

Beyond the period/full stop, many students struggle with comma, semi-colon, and colon usage. Take some time to learn the different ways of using the above punctuation, which will contribute to more varied sentence structures and more advanced writing overall. Also, become acquainted with major sentence structure errors so that you can avoid them.

Below are some common punctuation issues with examples.

Incomplete sentences

WRONG: Protests against immorality which became very strong by 1928.

Feedback: The use of ‘which’ means that another clause is needed after ‘1928’.

CORRECT: Protests against immorality became very strong by 1928,
CORRECT: Protests against immorality, which became very strong by 1928, divided the nation.

Run-on sentences & Comma splices

A run-on sentence combines two (or more) complete clauses without punctuation or linking words. This type of sentence is wrong and needs to be broken up.

Example: The results were tabulated they were statistically significant.

A comma splice combines two (or more) complete clauses with a comma. This type of sentence is wrong and needs to be broken up.

Example: The results were tabulated, they were statistically significant.

The sentences above need one of the following:

a “stronger” punctuation mark to break the two clauses (e.g., period/full stop, or semi-colon)
a conjunction (e.g., and) between ‘tabulated’ and ‘they’ to break up the two complete clauses

Correct Examples: The results were tabulated. They were statistically significant. (period / full stop)
The results were tabulated; they were statistically significant. (semi-colon)
The results were tabulated, and they were statistically significant. (conjunction)

Learn more about

Example Paper

Editing, revising and proofreading a paper (student sample) (91.3 KB, PDF)

This example with annotations shows how a student revised, edited and proofread the introduction paragraph of a paper on language policies in Beijing.

Our Tips

Keep the three steps separate. It can be difficult to focus on a paper’s global elements (Revising) and local elements (Editing, Proofreading) at the same time. Review your paper multiple times focusing on these elements separately.
Use technology for editing. AI applications or Grammarly are becoming increasingly effective in pointing out editing issues such as awkward wording, overly long or confusing sentences, or grammatical accuracy.
Use technology for proofreading. Use the spell/punctuation checkers on Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Basic errors on these levels can leave a bad impression on professors during the marking process.

Use vocabulary resources. On freecollocation.com you can search for collocations (i.e., high frequency word pairings), such as preposition combinations and noun-adjective combinations.
Think before you submit. Before submitting, re-read your paper one last time, zoom out, and reflect on your revising, editing, and proofreading processes. Is there anything you missed? Is there anything that could be improved?
Ask for help. Visit the ��ݮ��Ƶ�� Student Success Center (OSSC) and book an appointment with an advisor to get help at any of the above stages. OSSC advisors don’t proofread your papers, but give you feedback on portions of it that you can apply to the rest of your written work.

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

On Campus Services

How to Draft an Academic Paper

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 16:02:34 +0000

How to Draft an Academic Paper ana.lacerda@ma… Tue, 07/16/2024 - 12:02

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, English language

Skills Keywords:

Grammar, Literature reviews, Samples of written work, Vocabulary, Writing process

This Resource Page will help you:

Learn the steps in drafting an academic paper or standalone literature review.

Roadmap presenting the fours steps to prepare a literature review or academic paper and indicating you are now in step 4, part 1, writing the draft.

Introduction

Note: the instructions on this page focus on the following types of academic papers: research papers and standalone literature reviews.

Drafting an academic paper involves three main steps:

Understanding the general structure of the text genre (e.g., research paper, literature review, etc.)
Creating an outline
Drafting/writing the paper

We will look at each of these stages in detail.

Step 1: Understand the Structure of Academic Papers

Research Papers

These papers typically focus on the results of original research. This is their structure:

Introduction

Here you give the background information on your topic, include a problem statement, briefly contextualize your topic in the literature, and outline your objective/thesis statement/research questions.

To learn more, check How to Write Introductions.

Literature Review

This is sometimes included in the Introduction for academic journal articles. Here you review the relevant literature on the topic before eventually identifying a gap that your study aims to fill.

To learn more, check What is a Literature Review? and How to Prepare a Literature Review.

Methods

Here you give details on your research design, participants, data collection procedures, data analysis techniques, etc. (i.e. how you conducted your research).

Findings/Results

This is where you share the findings of your research, often organized into themes. In more quantitative papers, you will find tables and charts in this section, while qualitative studies will have a lot of participants’ quotes in this section.

Discussion

In this section, you generally zoom out to discuss the meaning of the findings altogether, their connections to the previous literature, and the ultimate answers to your research questions. This section will take on a more narrative style than the numbers and charts found in the quantitative Results section and more analysis of participants' perspectives in qualitative texts.

Conclusion

Finally, you summarize the key points and then discuss larger implications in the Conclusion. This is where writers often include the study’s limitations, areas for future research, and recommendations for practice.

To learn more, check How to Write Conclusions.

Standalone Literature Reviews

These papers are based on secondary sources. The entire paper is a literature review and the data is the literature itself. This is their structure:

Introduction

Much like in Academic Papers, give the reader an overview of the topic and the rationale or objective of the Literature Review, ending with the research questions. If you need to give more background information than there is room for in the Intro, you can create separate background sections to follow the Intro.

To learn more, check How to Write Introductions.

Methods

Because the entire paper is a Literature Review, we don’t need a separate Literature Review section here. Thus, jump straight to the Methods, including information on the retrieval of relevant studies (databases, key words), inclusion and exclusion criteria (limits on date of publication, topic, text type, etc.), and then briefly introduce the studies that you did include and the categories that you will use to organize them in your Literature Review.

Findings/Results

This section looks like the Literature Review section of the Academic Paper, except here the literature IS your data. You can, again, organize this section by theme and outline the focus, methods, and results of each study before comparing, contrasting, integrating, and critiquing them.

Discussion

Zoom out and look at your ‘findings’ all together. How have they answered your research questions? What are the similarities that you found in the literature? Any unresolved debates? Any remaining gaps and areas for future research? You will continue to do comparison, contrast, synthesis and critique here, but now across all your themes instead of one-by-one.

Conclusion

Quickly highlight the key takeaways from your Literature Review before focusing on larger implications, recommendations, predictions, etc. You can also discuss the limitations of your own Literature Review here (as opposed to the limitations of the literature in general, which fits into the Discussion above).

To learn more, check How to Write Conclusions.

To learn more about Literature Reviews, check What is a Literature Review? and How to Prepare a Literature Review.

Other Types of Academic Papers

Here are some Resource Pages of other text types that you will probably find in your courses at ��ݮ��Ƶ��, so take a look for their specific organizational patterns:

Step 2: Create an Outline

Always start with an outline before drafting your paper – it will make your drafting and revising phases much easier.

Beyond just creating an outline for the main sections of your paper (described in the section above), try to develop a more detailed outline that shows different sub-headings, points, and supporting arguments within each section.

Consult your outline continually during the writing process and check it again at the completion of a rough draft to make sure you included all relevant and important points. At the same time, keep in mind that your outline will evolve during the writing process as you read more, come up with new ideas, and drop old ones, so some flexibility with your outline is also advised.

Here is an example of a detailed outline of a research paper.

Step 3: Draft / Write

In the drafting/writing process, the order that you write in depends on you.

Some people like to start at the beginning (Intro) and then write in the same order as the outline until the Conclusion. Others prefer starting with the main findings and then writing out from there, jumping around to write different sections and sometimes even ending with the Introduction once all the details are filled in. Try experimenting with different approaches to see which writing sequence works best for you.

The following Resource Pages give some guidance on the writing process, starting with the most basic level of the paragraph:

Next, these Resource Pages can help you draft different sections of your paper, from Introductions to Literature Reviews to Conclusions.

When zooming in on specific sections or paragraphs of your paper, these Resource Pages describe more mechanical aspects such as communicating directly to your readers, using transitions, attending to flow, and bringing out your own voice in the writing:

Beyond your own voice, these last Resource Pages give instruction on how to integrate other articles and texts into your writing as well as how to use APA style:

Example of a Standalone Literature Review

Literature Review (student sample) (366.38 KB, PDF)

This is a full literature review paper written by an ��ݮ��Ƶ�� student on the topic of Computer-mediated Communication (CMC) and Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) in Writing Centers (WC). Throughout the paper, you will find several annotations. Yellow annotations refer to the structure of the paper, its content and how ideas are developed. Purple annotations refer to writing elements and language elements (e.g., paragraphs, paraphrases, summaries, quotes, stance and voice, cohesion, etc.).

Help & Additional Resources

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How to Write Conclusions

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 14:35:21 +0000

How to Write Conclusions ana.lacerda@ma… Mon, 07/01/2024 - 10:35

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, English language

Skills Keywords:

Writing process

This Resource Page will help you:

Learn the steps in writing an effective Conclusion for a research paper.

Introduction

Often overlooked in the research paper writing process, the Conclusion is important in that it reminds the reader of the key points in the body of the text, communicates important takeaways, and zooms out to discuss the larger implications of the paper’s findings or arguments.

This resource page will cover three key steps or moves that comprise an effective Conclusion:

Summarize key points & main takeaways while connecting back to the thesis and/or research questions.
Make connections to the literature and/or theory presented earlier in the paper.
Zoom out: Discuss limitations, implications, and/or give recommendations.

Step 1: Summarize key points & main takeaways

Start your conclusion by reminding the reader about the key points from the body of your paper. Consider this question: What do you want your reader to remember? Also know that readers sometimes skip down to the Conclusion to get the gist of the paper before reading body paragraphs, so make sure to communicate your most important points here. Also, make sure that this summary aligns with your thesis and/or research questions outlined in the Introduction (i.e. what the main findings or answers to your RQs are).

In the following Conclusion example, the writers highlight three key points or takeaways from their study on theory-practice relationships in teacher education. In the final point, the implications of ‘the embedded practicum model’ are described in terms of the training of teacher candidates.

Example

In the teacher preparation program described in this study, many program components and practices contributed to enabling teacher candidates to develop insights into the complex relationship between theory and practice. Theory and practice were viewed by faculty as existing in an integrated, reciprocal relationship, with many program structures and practices organized around school-based experiences. Faculty adopted a variety of student-centered, active pedagogical approaches (course- and program-based) that explicitly enabled teacher candidates to make theory and practice connections. A key feature of the program that fostered theory–practice connections was the embedded practicum model, which allowed for a gradual enculturation into the teaching profession. This prepared teacher candidates to gradually participate in the life of teaching, starting with low-risk activities in safe learning environments (e.g., viewing case studies of classroom practice, peer teaching) and gradually progressing to more complete complex teaching responsibilities (planning and implementing assessment with children) over time.

From: Goodnough, K., Falkenberg, T., & MacDonald, R. (2016). Examining the nature of theory–practice relationships in initial teacher education: A Canadian case study. Canadian Journal of Education/Revue canadienne de l'éducation, 39(1), 1-28.

Step 2: Make connections to the literature and/or theory presented earlier in the paper

In the next move, return to some of the key literature that you discussed earlier to evaluate how your findings/conclusions compare or add to this body of literature. You can also return to the key theories you used in your paper, evaluating how your findings/conclusions can be interpreted through those theoretical lenses.

In the next section of the example text, the reader is reminded of three key theories that were presented previously. The authors signal their alignment with the second and third theories before discussing the implications for teacher educators in moving away from the first theory (traditional approach).

Example

Earlier in this article, we theorized about three approaches to teacher preparation: traditional, Deweyan, and practical wisdom. Other scholars, such as Grossman, Hammerness, and McDonald (2009), have also suggested that teacher preparation be premised on the ideas of the latter two approaches. These authors suggest that teacher education be organized around core principles of practice, skills, and teacher identity to best prepare teacher candidates for the teaching profession. They state that traditional divides between foundation and methods courses and divides between schools and universities need to be dismantled. This implies a particular role for teacher educators if teacher candidates are to examine discrete aspects of the complex act of teaching. It would require faculty to envision course content differently, and to view program and pedagogy from the starting point of clinical practice.

In the next example, the researchers return to the literature by showing the alignment between the findings in their article and the emerging literature surveyed before. Once again, implications for teacher candidates and teacher education programs are then described.

Example

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, emerging literature does suggest a number of principles for offering high-quality teacher education programs (Allen, 2009; Beck & Kosnik, 2006; Darling-Hammond, 2006). These principles and their associated practices were evident in the design and implementation of the program described in this article. The principles underpinning a teacher preparation program have implications for the scope and sequencing of content and experiences, as well as program structure and pedagogy, and will influence how teacher candidates experience and understand theory– practice relationships.

Step 3: Zoom out: Discuss limitations, implications, and/or give recommendations

In the final step, it is time to zoom out and give your final take-home message. Here, we reverse the “general to specific” pattern in the Introduction, ending with more general points around the implications and recommendations for the field based on your key findings and conclusions. You can also discuss the limitations that were uncovered during the paper writing process, such as gaps that still exist, and then suggest areas for future research.

In the final example, the writers begin with recommendations, discuss areas for future research, outline a key existing challenge, before ending with a description of the significance of the study and how it adds both to our knowledge while also uncovering some tensions for teacher education on the level of theory-practice relationships.

Example

We, the authors, recommend that teacher educators and those involved in teacher preparation, development, and implementation constantly reflect on how teacher candidates are constructing their understanding of teaching and theory–practice relationships. Enabling teacher candidates to establish a sound foundation to start their teaching careers is one of the broad goals of teacher preparation. More research is needed to understand the context of teacher preparation and how programs and individual faculty can offer appropriate, coherent learning experiences that shift away from the traditional divide between theory and practice. While a considerable body of literature about theory and practice in teacher education exists, theory–practice dynamics continue to be a challenge in terms of how teacher educators can best support teacher candidates as they develop their own understanding of theory–practice relationships in the context of learning to teach. This case study research adds to the knowledge base of teacher education, providing insight into the nature of faculty and teacher candidates’ thinking about theory– practice relationships and how this may shape practice. It also provides insight into some of the tensions and challenges faculties of education may experience as they implement new programs and/or practices that explicitly attend to creating strong theory–practice relationships.

Example of a Conclusion

Literature Review (student sample) (366.38 KB, PDF)

Our Tips

Often, students will focus on Step 1 (Summarizing of key points) in their Conclusion and then stop there. Don’t forget to include Steps 2 (Making connections) and 3 (Zooming out) for an effective Conclusion.
Note that writers do not always follow the Step 1 -> Step 2 -> Step 3 sequence in perfect order. These steps may be mixed up and returned to numerous times in a Conclusion.
A sign of an ineffective Conclusion is when it only comprises a few sentences. For your research papers, aim for the Conclusion to take up half a page at minimum.
Before writing the Conclusion, look back at your Introduction to make sure that the promises you made to the reader there (focus, thesis, significance, etc.) are still relevant to your paper. If not, you can adjust the Introduction to reflect what was actually accomplished in your paper.

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

Video: How to Write a Conclusion for a Research Paper

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How to Write Introductions

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 19:40:43 +0000

How to Write Introductions ana.lacerda@ma… Wed, 06/19/2024 - 15:40

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, English language

Skills Keywords:

Writing process

This Resource Page will help you:

Learn the steps in writing an effective Introduction for a research paper.

Introduction

The Introduction of your research paper is important as it should grab the reader’s attention, provide needed background information and context for the paper’s focus, and outline your main arguments and/or research questions.

This resource page will cover five key steps or moves that comprise an effective Introduction:

Introduce the general topic and grab the reader’s attention.
Describe the situation/background information.
Identify a problem and why it is important to solve.
Look at what other researchers have found/done.
Outline the focus, purpose, and main argument/research questions.

Step 1: Introduce the General Topic and Grab the Reader’s Attention

Start the paper off by announcing your topic with a catchy ‘hook’ to grab the reader’s attention. The hook can be a vivid quote, a thought-provoking question, an interesting anecdote or scenario, a surprising fact or statistic, a bold statement, etc.

In the example below, the authors provide some historical context to indicate the importance of their topic, as it has been in scholarly discussion for many years.

Example

Research about theory–practice relationships in teacher preparation has been prevalent since the early 1970s.

Step 2: Describe the Situation/Background Information

In the following sentences, explain the background and context to your topic, moving from general to more specific information. This is also a place where you can define or clarify key terms, provide further statistics, and give details that lead into the problem statement in Step 3.

In the example below, the writers provide background information by specifying exactly what they mean by ‘theory’ and ‘practice,’ introducing key considerations in the design or review of teacher education programs, and then announcing their focal context (K-12).

Example

Often, this “real” or “perceived” relationship has been characterized as a “gap” or “divide” between learning in university classrooms (theory) and classroom teaching (practice). In designing or renewing teacher preparation programs, issues such as the nature of theory and practice, how they relate to each other, and how theory–practice relationships are envisioned and enacted as teacher candidates learn to teach must be considered carefully. It is also important to consider teacher educator perspectives about the relationship between theory and practice and how these perspectives are reflected in their thinking and professional practice. K–12 classrooms are becoming increasingly complex (e.g., catering to needs of all children in the regular classroom, staying abreast of emerging technology, etc.), and warrant pedagogy that reflects inclusivity, standards-based curricula, and technology.

From: Goodnough et al., 2016.

Step 3: Identify a Problem and Why it is Important to Solve

Very often (but not always), an essay or research paper will include a problem statement, as we often write about current issues in the field and education before offering recommendations. Beyond just introducing the issue, however, we also need to describe its significance (i.e., address the “so what?”).

In the following excerpt, the researchers first explain the importance of integrating theory-practice for K-12 education and then introduce the problem with traditional approaches to theory-practice relationships in teacher education.

Example

The changing nature of the K–12 learning environment has implications for how teacher education programs are structured, as well as influence the pedagogy adopted that enables teacher candidates to integrate and connect theory and practice in ways that support their learning and development. Traditional approaches to teacher preparation often conceptualize the relationship between theory and practice as “a two-step process of knowledge acquisition and application or transfer” (Feiman-Nemser & Remillard, 1996, p. 79). In other words, teacher educators provide knowledge about teaching and learning in university settings, while teacher candidates are expected to apply this to their practice in classrooms as they learn to teach. However, recent research has shown that adopting a “theory first and practice later” perspective has not been effective in supporting teacher candidates in creating strong theory–practice connections (Brouwer & Korthagen, 2005; Grossman, 2008; Wideen, Mayer-Smith, & Moon, 1998).

From: Goodnough et al., 2016.

Step 4: Look at What Other Researchers Have Found/Done

Introductions also often include a very abbreviated literature review, highlighting some of the major findings on the topic before identifying a gap (what has not been found yet). This gap provides the context for your research questions (Step 5) which are framed to help fill the gap.

In the next section of our example, a brief overview of important studies on the topic is given before introducing the gap, and thus this study’s contribution to the field.

Example

While there is no one “best” approach to program design and structure, emerging literature on the integration of theory and practice in teacher preparation suggests a number of useful practices for offering high-quality teacher education programs, such as ensuring coherence across program components (Beck & Kosnik, 2006), developing strong partnerships with schools (Darling-Hammond, 2006), and offering theory-focused course learning with practice-focused field experiences in an integrated manner (Allen, 2009).
Little research exists on how teacher educators understand and experience theory–practice dynamics, thus this study adds to this body of research.

From: Goodnough et al., 2016.

Step 5: Outline the Focus, Purpose, and Main Argument/Research Questions

Once the gap is established, you can announce the focus and purpose of your paper and the research questions (answers to which will help fill the gap). This can also take the form of a main argument/thesis statement where you outline the importance and uniqueness of your argument (a new perspective which thus fills a gap). For more quantitative papers, a hypothesis is used here, which will be confirmed or refuted in the body of the paper (as opposed to a more qualitative and open research question).

In the example below, the authors describe their data sources (focus) and then introduce the research questions. Finally, they outline the purpose of the study by highlighting contributions to the field and key findings.

Example

In this case study, the authors report on data collected from a Canadian faculty of education in which a new post-degree K–12 teacher preparation program was implemented. The following research questions guided this study: (a) What is the nature of theory– practice relationships in a new teacher preparation program? (b) What tensions will arise as theory–practice relationships are manifested in this new teacher preparation program?
This study contributes to the teacher education literature by reporting on how theory–practice relationships were conceptualized and enacted in practice in a teacher preparation program that underwent reform. The study highlights the issues and tensions that arose and explores how these may be addressed or resolved as diverse personal and theoretical perspectives on theory–practice relationships “come to life” in a teacher preparation program.

From: Goodnough et al., 2016.

Bonus Step: End with a ‘Roadmap’ for your Paper

Much like an outline slide in a presentation, a roadmap at the end of an Introduction helps structure the paper and aids your reader in anticipating the organization and key points/sections. Make sure the points in your roadmap match the main headings/sections in your paper.

Roadmap phrases:

This paper first focuses on...
Next, I will look at...
The paper then explains...
Finally, I outline...

See our Resource Page on Signposting for more information.

Example of an Introduction

Literature Review (student sample) (366.38 KB, PDF)

Our Tips

Writers sometimes write their Introductions during the last stage of their overall writing process (after the body paragraphs). We recommend writing a rough draft Introduction at the beginning, and then returning to it again at the end to see if your overall focus or purpose has shifted.
In Step 1, avoid the ‘long distance opening’ which is much too broad for the focus on your paper. For example, a general statement on the field of education as a whole would too broad. Rather, announce your more specific topic (e.g. theory-practice relationships in teacher education) in the first sentence.
With any section of a paper, be aware of your audience and how much background knowledge they already have. For course papers, your professor is the audience, so consider the amount of background information they need for a topic in their field vs. a very specific topic that they probably haven’t explored much before.

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

On Campus Services

Book a writing consultation (OSSC)

How to Write Cohesively

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 21:18:34 +0000

How to Write Cohesively ana.lacerda@ma… Mon, 06/03/2024 - 17:18

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, English language

Skills Keywords:

Grammar, Vocabulary, Writing process

This Resource Page will help you:

Understand the significance of cohesion in academic writing
Write logical and smooth connections between ideas
Address your readers to guide them through your ideas
Improve the overall readability of your written work

What is Cohesion?

In academic writing, ideas must stick together logically (cohesion) and make sense as a whole (coherence).

Coherence (i.e., “how ideas make sense as a whole”) is related to logic and flow in the text and facilitates the overall understanding of your writing.

Cohesion (i.e., “how ideas stick together”) refers to the interrelatedness of sentences in a text to create a sense of unity. Cohesion is essential because it affects how the text and the ideas are structured and ultimately understood.

Check the following example. Text A is cohesive; Text B is the same text without any cohesive elements.

Text A

This research argues against the effectiveness of a particular model of understanding teaching. The model is criticized for being limited by an intellectualist bias in its conceptualization of the mind and for having a narrow definition of excellence, particularly in the context of actual classrooms. The text suggests that excellent teachers, dealing with real-time challenges, are too immersed in the immediate classroom situation to engage in critical reflection on their beliefs. The act of stepping back and critically evaluating one's choices is seen as potentially disruptive to the flow of the classroom, missing valuable teaching opportunities. The text further describes the peculiar phenomenology of the teacher experience, emphasizing the quick and intuitive decision-making process without a reliance on consciously held beliefs. The argument concludes that teacher education programs focusing on reflective models may overlook the fundamental importance of teachers' intuitive responsiveness to classroom dynamics.

Taken from: García, J. & Lewis, T. (2014). Getting a Grip on the Classroom: From Psychological to Phenomenological Curriculum Development in Teacher Education Programs. Curriculum Inquiry, 44(2), 141-168, DOI: 10.1111/curi.12042

Text B

This research argues against the effectiveness of a particular model of understanding teaching. It is criticized for being limited by an intellectualist bias in its conceptualization of the mind and for having a narrow definition of excellence, particularly in the context of actual classrooms. Excellent teachers, dealing with real-time challenges, are too immersed in the immediate classroom situation to engage in critical reflection on their beliefs. The act of stepping back and critically evaluating one's choices is seen as potentially disruptive to the flow of the classroom, missing valuable teaching opportunities. The peculiar phenomenology of the teacher experience includes a quick and intuitive decision-making process without a reliance on consciously held beliefs. Teacher education programs focusing on reflective models may overlook the fundamental importance of teachers' intuitive responsiveness to classroom dynamics.

Text B lacks connective devices/transition phrases to guide the reader through the logical order of the arguments, so the text is disjointed and difficult to follow. Also, the second sentence uses an unclear pronoun (it) rather than repeating the key noun (the model). When you read Text B, it may sound fragmented and lacking flow, with unclear connections between sentences.

Cohesion plays an important role in guiding your readers through your writing and ideas by connecting ideas and maintaining a smooth narrative. Without cohesive devices, the text loses its structure and becomes inaccessible to the readers.

How to Write Cohesively?

Writing cohesive and coherent texts means using linguistic and structural techniques to link ideas, sentences, and paragraphs to ensure the writing is easy to follow. Effective cohesion strategies include:

Repeating key nouns
Using pronouns consistently
Using transitions to link ideas
Arranging your ideas in a logical order

1. Repeat key nouns

Repeating key nouns frequently in your paragraphs is a common strategy to make the sentences flow smoothly. Have a look at the following example and feedback:

Example + Feedback

Example: However, Mateo underlined the relation of self-transformation to social transformation, as self-love grows into collective liberation. Because Mateo expressed excitement for a world of love and joy for queer and trans people of color, mediated by the Queer Eye X Lizzo video, I asked him if he saw himself in the video now or felt that it represented a future he could be a part of someday. Mateo emphasized, “I can see myself being a part of it in the future, but right now, I’m at the beginning, the start of the line.” Mateo shared that being at the beginning, “feels like I’m more comfortable just being around myself.” He theorized that the future he imagined alongside the video “has to start with me, so I can kind of, in a way, spread it to others.”

Taken from: Shrodes, A. (2023) “The word ‘getting over’ is really weird”: Storying disability in desired futures. Curriculum Inquiry, DOI: 10.1080/03626784.2023.2206932

Feedback: The key noun (Mateo) is consistently employed throughout the text to maintain sentence coherence.

2. Use pronouns consistently

In academic writing, using consistent pronouns is key for a clear and cohesive text. Since pronouns do not denote meaning by themselves, they need referents, i.e., a topic or a noun elsewhere in the text they refer to.

Example + Feedback

Example: Our experiences as white teacher educators—in our work in classrooms often filled with white women future teachers, as well as in our work with white practicing teachers, community members, and university colleagues—have taught us about the ubiquity and potency of stereotypes in the white racial imagination. As Zeus Leonardo (2005) reminded us, “Critical work on race does not only study its real manifestations and deem everything else ghosts of the real; it must critically understand … how people imagine race in their daily lives” (p. 404). We believe that our teacher education efforts are haunted and undermined by the workings and power of racist stereotypes. Our hope is that attending to Mammy and Brute Negro stereotypes with more sophistication and insight might help us, ultimately, more effectively work with white women in teacher education, particularly related to concepts of culturally relevant pedagogies. In our conclusion, we frame crucial questions and challenges that confront us, given our retelling and analysis of Danielle’s and Lily’s stories.

Taken from: Taken from: Miller, E. & Lensmire, T. (2020). Mammies, brute Negroes, and white femininity in teacher education, Curriculum Inquiry, 50(5), 400-418, DOI: 10.1080/03626784.2020.1860643

Feedback: In this example, the authors refer to themselves as they examine two stories about white femininity. Pronouns are crucial in referencing earlier noun phrases (referents), as seen in the example where ‘our,’ ‘us,’ and ‘we’ refer to the authors and their involvement in the academic narrative. This enhancement in readability stems from the precision and cohesion achieved in every sentence.

3. Use transitions to link ideas

In academic writing, transition words are helpful to achieve cohesion by linking ideas and providing a sense of movement that will help your readers understand the connections you wish to convey in your text. Some transition words can be helpful to

start a paragraph
link secondary sentences within a paragraph
conclude and/or bridge ideas in a paragraph to move on to the following one.

Check below different categories of transition words, their purposes and examples.

Addition

Purpose: To add extra information

Linking word examples: also, too, as well, above all, in addition, similarly, correspondingly (formal), equally, likewise, in the same way, by the same token, and. More emphatic: actually, besides, moreover, furthermore, in fact, what is more, as a matter of fact

Written sentences examples: Additionally, this study engages the AsianCrit tenet of story, theory, and praxis. CRT recognizes stories as an essential tool for the survival and liberation of oppressed groups; within CRT, stories are often used as a means of psychic self-preservation and/or to lessen members of oppressed groups’ own subordination. Furthermore, when members of oppressed groups share their stories, such storytelling may shatter complacency, challenge the status quo, and engage conscience (Delgado, 1989).

Naseem, N. (2020). “Invisibility is not a natural state for anyone”: (Re)constructing narratives of Japanese American incarceration in elementary classrooms, Curriculum Inquiry, 50(4), 309-329, DOI: 10.1080/03626784.2020.1831369

Time

Purpose: To sequence, to situate in time, to order chronologically

Linking word examples: first, second, third, then, meanwhile, in the meantime, originally, first of all, afterwards, next, eventually, subsequently, finally, at last, in the end

Written sentences examples: The language chosen to speak on behalf of the five billion inhabitants of the globe is English. Meanwhile, back on the surface of the earth, from a small radio in a township shack in Soweto, come tumbling the words of a song by Johnny Clegg and Savuka.

Pennycook, A. (2017). The cultural politics of English as an international language. Routledge.

Comparison

Purpose: To compare points

Linking word examples: similarly, in the same way, likewise

Written sentences examples: However, the metapragmatic evaluation “this is not an English class” raised by Valentina earlier, can easily cross over between sectors. Similarly, a negative student evaluation of a pedagogical interaction based on relevance to a specific objective, such as gaining fluency to improve employment prospects, can easily be complemented by an evaluation based on moral objectionability.

Windle, J.A. & de Araujo Rosa, J. (2023). Navigating Critical Language Education at the Crossroads of Neonationalism and Neoliberalism: The Role of Border Talk. TESOL J, 57. 752-774.

Contrast

Purpose: To show differences

Linking word examples: however, on the contrary, by contrast, in contrast, on the other hand, instead, in fact, conversely, yet.

Written sentences examples: According to the JD-R model, job demands comprise job characteristics that require effort and are linked to higher strain and burnout (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007). Yet, empirical studies have shown that not all job demands have direct and solely negative effects (Crawford et al., 2010); Van den Broeck et al., 2010).

Jörg, V., Hartmann, U., Philipp, A., & Kunter, M. (2023). Teachers' proactive behaviour: Interactions with job characteristics and professional competence in a longitudinal study. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 00, e12642. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12642

Exclusion

Purpose: to show options.

Linking word examples: alternatively, on the one hand-on the other hand, rather, Or (else)

Written sentences examples: Both positions have their limitations. On the one hand, identity politics’ inclination towards essentialism threatens to naturalize difference and reproduce dominant cultural assumptions. On the other hand, the idea that “gender” or “race” are fictions threatens to invisibilize difference altogether, along with the power relationships that create it (Alcoff, 1988, 2006).

Tien, J. (2019). Teaching identity vs. positionality: Dilemmas in social justice education, Curriculum Inquiry, 49(5), 526-550, DOI: 10.1080/03626784.2019.1696150

Concession

Purpose: To concede information

Linking word examples: still, however, all the same, even so, that said, nevertheless. More formally: nonetheless, notwithstanding. More informally: anyhow, anyway, only, though, but, yet

Written sentences examples: In other words, Mock Spanish invokes stigmatizing stereotypes about Latinas/os without making such stereotypes explicit. The most profound aspect of this process, however, is not that it frames “Spanish speakers” (regardless of national background and ethnoracial identity) in particular ways, but that it specifically produces “Latina/o” as a U.S. racial category.

Rosa, J. (2016). 'From Mock Spanish to Inverted Spanglish: Language Ideologies and the Racialization of Mexican and Puerto Rican Youth in the United States', in H. Samy Alim, John R. Rickford, and Arnetha F. Ball (eds), Raciolinguistics: How Language Shapes Our Ideas ��ݮ��Ƶ�� Race. Oxford Academic.

Reason

Purpose: To explain points.

Linking word examples: Therefore, for that matter, accordingly, on account of this, that is why.

Written sentences examples: New perspectives conveyed through shared dialogue result in complex understandings. Therefore, dialectical constructivist theory privileges a social nexus that is facilitated (Vygotsky, 1986) by an instructor rather controlled by one.

Lahey, T. (2023). From college to classroom: Using virtual collaborative inquiry to support first-year teachers with classroom management. Journal of Education, 0(0). DOI: 10.1177/00220574231166014

Result

Purpose: To demonstrate results

Linking word examples: as a result, therefore, accordingly, consequently, in consequence, of course, hence. Formal: as a consequence, in consequence, thus.

Written sentences examples: As a result, students themselves began identifying as “people with privilege” and using the frameworks of “privileged” vs. “unprivileged” people. For example, in his final reflection on the course, Peter wrote that, “I am learning that as a person of privilege, I need to find ways to give up some power, while stewarding those things that I cannot give up.”

Tien, J. (2019). Teaching identity vs. positionality: Dilemmas in social justice education, Curriculum Inquiry, 49(5), 526-550, DOI: 10.1080/03626784.2019.1696150

Purpose

Purpose: To indicate directions

Linking word examples: thus, for this purpose, therefore, with this in mind

Written sentences examples: The importance of a research article is routinely measured by counting how many times it has been cited. However, treating all citations with equal weight ignores the wide variety of functions that citations perform. We want to automatically identify the subset of references in a bibliography that have a central academic influence on the citing paper. For this purpose, we examine the effectiveness of a variety of features for determining the academic influence of a citation.

Zhu, X., Turney, P., Lemire, D., & Vellino, A. (2015). Measuring academic influence: Not all citations are equal. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 66(2), 408-427.

Condition

Purpose: To indicate conditions

Linking word examples: if so, if not, in that case, that being so, in such an event, Then, Under such circumstances

Written sentences examples: If we accept that colonialism is varied and operates in different contexts, then our responses have to be multiple, and we are obliged to acknowledge the inherent tensions between competing visions of anti-colonialism.

Dei, G. S. & Lordan, M. (2016). Anti-colonial theory and decolonial praxis. Peter Lang.

Enumeration

Purpose: To sequence multiple points

Linking word examples: for one thing (... for another thing), In the first place, Secondly, next, then (again), finally, in the first/second place, first of all, to begin with, to start with; Especially in formal and technical use: we find a.... b .... c...., one ... two .... three....

Written sentences examples: First, and in the most obvious sense, English is worldly by dint of its vast global expansion. Second, English is worldly in the sense that a person may be called worldly: it has been and is constantly in the process of being changed by its position in the world. And third, it is in the world, it is part of the world; to use English is to engage in social action which produces and reproduces social and cultural relations.

Pennycook, A. (2017). The cultural politics of English as an international language. Routledge.

Summative

Purpose: To summarize and synthesize information

Linking word examples: all in all, altogether, overall, thus, in conclusion, in sum, to sum up, to conclude, to summarise, in short, after all

Written sentences examples: This code definition connects, albeit broadly, to the wider construct of autonomy referenced above but is also grounded in our data capturing teachers’ perceptions and reported actions of autonomy both in response to interview questions about the pacing guide and beyond. Thus, we conceptually aligned the notion of having autonomy with deviating from the pacing guide and approached the excerpts coded for Deviating with the goal of compiling evidence of teacher autonomy.

Exemplification

Purpose: To provide examples

Linking word examples: for example, namely, e.g. , for instance, to illustrate, as an example

Written sentences examples: Race is also a point of connection to the English language for critical teachers who seek to reposition English as a language of protest and solidarity, for example, through discussions of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Windle, J.A. & de Araujo Rosa, J. (2023). Navigating Critical Language Education at the Crossroads of Neonationalism and Neoliberalism: The Role of Border Talk. TESOL J, 57. 752-774.

Clarification

Purpose: To explain points

Linking word examples: In other words, put differently, namely, thus, that is (to say), i.e. , (I mean), in fact.

Written sentences examples: Yet, the racializing effects of Mock Spanish do not apply to a large number of the individuals who would seem to fit into this category, namely many Spaniards and other “historically Spanish-speaking populations” that are not racialized as non-White in the ways that millions of U.S. Latinas/os are.

Identification

Purpose: To identify specific information

Linking word examples: namely, specifically, especially, in particular

Written sentences examples: We did not observe any differences in the level of teachers' personal initiative with regard to their gender, age, years of professional experience, school track or full-time versus part-time positions. Regarding the job characteristics and aspects of professional competence, only one factor, namely, personal initiative of the team, showed a significant difference between teachers of different school tracks: Higher track teachers reported significantly lower values (M = 2.72, SD = .99) than lower track teachers (M = 3.50, SD = .90, t(105) = 2.44, p = .016, d = .48).

Inference

Purpose: To deduce and infer implicit information

Linking word examples: In that case, in other words, then, otherwise, else, more accurately, more precisely

Written sentences examples: “Even if [classroom management] preparation was sufficient, teacher education would need to be explicit about how classroom management could be adapted, integrated, or reconceptualized towards shifting classroom demographics” (p. 207). In other words, the SEL must be culturally compatible.

Lahey, T. (2023). From college to classroom: Using virtual collaborative inquiry to support first-year teachers with classroom management. Journal of Education, 0(0). https://doi-org.myaccess.

Digression

Purpose: To introduce new points not mentioned before

Linking word examples: incidentally, as a matter of fact, at any rate

Written sentences examples: Decolonial epistemic reconstitutions, and the politics of decolonial investigations, aim to overcome the hegemony of the “European paradigm of modernity/rationality” and take the first two trajectories (deWesternization and reWesternization) as a field of investigation. As a matter of fact, setting up the current world order as the conflict between the rise of de- Westernization and the counterrevolution of reWesternization is a decolonial conceptualization of epistemic reconstitutions to understand the current world order emerging from five hundred years of Westernization.

Mignolo, W. (2021). The politics of decolonial investigations. Duke University Press.

4. Arrange ideas in a logical order

Another method to enhance cohesion involves organizing sentences in a specific order. Your choice will depend on your topic and writing purpose. Two common forms include chronological order and logical division of ideas.

Chronological Order

Chronological order concerns the organization of ideas representing a sequence of events or steps within a process. In the example, the authors provide a sequence of steps where they establish cohesion through strategic use of sequence markers like first, second, third, finally.

Example: First, drawing on her own experiences and critical consciousness calls as a Chicana Spanish-speaker, Andrea immediately noticed the low number of Spanish speakers in her program and the imbalanced requirements in the teacher qualification policy (Freire, 2021). In turn, Andrea and her colleagues engaged in four additional critical consciousness actions (see Palmer et al., 2019). Together they committed to developing similar habits of continuously interrogating power during regularly scheduled PLC gatherings where they reviewed DLBE policy information on program aspects whose fairness they questioned. Second, the group historicized schools in DLBE by looking backward at the history of bilingual education to have a larger sense of the possibilities for focusing on the civil rights era issues still at play in the current DLBE climate. Third, the group engaged in critical listening as they encouraged one another to be courageous and calmly express disagreement when necessary as they made different arguments for what constituted fairness. Finally, teachers got better at engaging with discomfort.

From: Valdéz, V., Delavan, G., & Freire, J. (2023). Using critical policy analysis in collaborative professional learning communities to enhance dual language bilingual educators’ critical consciousness in Lisa M. Dorner, Deborah Palmer, Claudia G. Cervantes-Soon, Dan Heiman, and Emily R. Crawford (Eds.) Critical consciousness in dual language bilingual education: Case studies on policy and practice (First Edition). Routledge.

Logical Division

Logical division consists of the categorization of ideas into parts for clarity, with each part discussed separately.

Example: The chapters in the teaching and teacher learning section, like the previous sections, span a broad range of contexts and experiences. Taken together, they illustrate how the overlapping actions of critical consciousness can be embodied in schools through classroom practice and teacher learning.
The first two chapters provide an intersectional lens that actively aims to interrogate binaries, to critically listen to current problems in DLBE spaces, and to accompany Black and LGBTQ+ students.
The final four chapters in the teaching and teacher learning section demonstrate the need to interrogate white-stream conceptualizations of academic achievement, bilingualism/biliteracy, and intercultural competence, the three traditional goals of DLBE (Howard et al., 2018).

From: Dorner, L. M., Palmer, D. K., Cervantes-Soon, C. G., Heiman, D., & Crawford, E. R. (Eds.). (2023). Critical consciousness in dual language bilingual education: Case studies on policy and practice (First Edition). Routledge.

Types of Transitions

Transitions in an academic text can be written using a single word, a phrase, a sentence, or even an entire paragraph. In this way, you provide your readers with signals about how to read through your text. Transitions are generally used for three purposes: linking sections, linking paragraphs and linking ideas within paragraphs.

1. Transitions between sections

This type of transition is frequent in longer texts (e.g., book chapters and scholarly papers) to link information in one section to what follows in the next. These links are necessary to ensure the continuity of the text. Note that these are larger shifts between topics than the transitions between paragraphs below.

Example

Despite the benefits of social interaction with host-nationals, many international students experienced only superficial contact with Americans, and give up hope of establishing deep cross-cultural relationships (Mallinckrodt & Leong, 1992).

Taken from: MICUSP International Students in the United States: Developing Interpersonal Relationships for Cross-cultural Adjustment and Intercultural Maturity

Explanation

This writer uses a contrastive device (Despite) to transition from the topic of the previous section (benefits) to the focus of the current section (barriers to interaction). This is the topic sentence of the first paragraph in this section.

2. Transitions between paragraphs

Transitions between paragraphs are similar to transitions between sections as their purpose is to let the readers know that the upcoming content will experience a shift (contrast, addition, further explanation, etc.) from the content of the previous paragraph. As paragraphs contain a single controlling idea, the change or shift to new arguments, ideas, and information should happen in the following paragraph. These shifts are generally still on the same topic, as opposed to the shifts between sections (new topics) outlined above. For instance, a shift between sections might be benefits -> challenges while a shift between paragraphs may look like benefit 1 -> benefit 2.

As with section transitions, paragraph transitions can be strategically positioned in different locations within the text. Oftentimes, they are located at the end of the first paragraph, the beginning of the second paragraph, or at both junctures.

Example

Another argument for avoidance is that histories like the Holocaust are too horrific and complex for children to adequately understand, so they should not be introduced at all (Totten, 1999).

In contrast, supporters of teaching difficult histories to children have often argued for their instructive nature: to learn lessons from the past, so that we do not forget and do not repeat our mistakes (Rodríguez, 2019).

Naseem, N. (2020). “Invisibility is not a natural state for anyone”: (Re)constructing narratives of Japanese American incarceration in elementary classrooms. Curriculum Inquiry, 50(4), 309-329, DOI: 10.1080/03626784.2020.1831369

Explanation

The author uses a single expression (in contrast) to signal a shift in perspective in her argumentation. She introduces a new line of thought, presenting the opposing stance of supporters who argue for the educational value of teaching difficult histories to children. This signals a shift in the narrative, emphasizing the instructive nature of difficult histories and the potential lessons that can be learned to avoid repeating mistakes.

3. Transitions within paragraphs

As with transitions between sections and paragraphs, transitions within paragraphs act as cues to help readers anticipate what is coming next as well as understand the types of logical relationships between sentences (contrast, addition, etc.). Within paragraphs, transitions tend to be single words or short phrases.

Example

Virtually every definition of culture (e.g., Hofstede 1980, Mead 1955) suggests that it represents a coalescence of discrete behavioral norms and cognitions shared by individuals within some definable population that are distinct from those shared within other populations. These normative beliefs and behaviors provide resources for realizing individual and collective goals, and so are often institutionalized in a variety of formal and informal ways. Moreover, there exist means for transmitting beliefs and behaviors to new members of the cultural population, so that the norms defining a culture may persist over very long periods of time.

Taken from: https://www2.psych.ubc.ca/~schaller/LehmanChiuSchaller2004.pdf

Explanation

The use of ‘Moreover’ adds another point to the main idea of cultural norms.

Our Tips

Achieving cohesion takes time, so be patient and practice your writing. While you write your assignments, ensure that you make conscious decisions about connecting ideas and establishing relationships among ideas and paragraphs.
Avoid excessive use of linking words as it may overload the text, diminishing their effectiveness in maintaining flow and reader comprehension. Also, avoid only placing linking words at the beginning of the sentence (vary their usage).
Read out loud or have a computer read your writing. Listen to your assignment and think if, first, it makes sense to you and if it will make sense to somebody else. You will be able to notice important gaps when you listen to your own writing.
Show your paper to somebody else. Remember that cohesion concerns your readers and how they understand and react to your ideas.

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

On Campus Services

How to Talk to your Readers: Signposting

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 17:01:08 +0000

How to Talk to your Readers: Signposting ana.lacerda@ma… Mon, 06/03/2024 - 13:01

How to Talk to your Readers: Signposting

Introduction
Signposting Order
Signposting Relations
Help & Additional Resources

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, English language

Skills Keywords:

Grammar, Vocabulary, Writing process

This Resource Page will help you:

learn what signposting is and what it's used for
learn how to effectively use signposting vocabulary

Introduction

Academic writing can be understood as a type of formal conversation where you need to effectively engage your readers, and signposting is a very common strategy for this purpose.

Signposting means telling your reader what you will do in your paper and its sections, how you will organize the content, and what you have done in previous sections. Signposting is like a “road map” that guides your readers through the content and organization of your paper.

In this Resource Page, you will learn two types of signposting that are frequent in academic writing: Order and Relations.

Signposting Order

These signposting phrases direct readers through your writing, provide a ‘roadmap’ for the order in which you will talk about things, help readers stay on track throughout, and remind them of key information.

Signposting order can be especially useful for introductions, conclusions, transitioning from one significant idea to another, or discussing methods and procedures.

Here are six common types of signposting order:

Listing
Foreshadowing
Changing Topic
Going Backward
Progress
Summary

1. Listing

Listing signposting consists of phrases that will facilitate the reader’s understanding of the logic and sequence of the text.

In the example below, the author uses a typical listing strategy to sequence the arguments.

Let me identify what I take to be the potential dangers here. In the first place, one finds that Levinas’s work is understood and used within a discourse of multiculturalism. There are indeed rich resources in Levinas that can con- tribute to enquiry of this kind, but things go wrong, for example, where his understanding of the Other is assimilated to a politics of recognition. Second, there is the tendency to enlist his work in something like a psychology of dialogical relations, perhaps of student-teacher relations, where the aim is better communication. This may seem close to Levinas’s concerns, but the problem is that such communication is understood as a matter of personal relations and, it should be added, with a relative indifference to the content of what is communicated. Sometimes, a third point, Levinas’s work has been interpreted in a way that relies excessively on a vocabulary of transcendence, causing it to be rarefied and detached from the quotidian circumstances of human lives. That vocabulary easily becomes incantatory, and its reiteration stands in the way of a more exact realization of the practical significance of ideas in question. Finally, the reception of Levinas’s thought suffers from a more general problem, regarding the understanding of poststructuralism.

Standish, P. (2008). Levinas and the language of curriculum in Egéa-Kuehne (Ed.), Levinas and education at the intersection of faith and reason. Routledge.

More Listing Phrases:

The first section of this paper will examine ...
This paper begins by ... It will then go on to ...
The essay has been organised in the following way: ...
The remaining part of the paper proceeds as follows: ...
The main issues addressed in this paper are a), b) and c).
This paper first gives a brief overview of the recent history of X.
This paper has been divided into four parts. The first part deals with ...
This topic can best be treated under three headings: X, Y, and Z.
The key aspects of (topic) can be listed as follows: X, Y, and Z.
There are three reasons why X. These are ...
This section has been included for several reasons: X ...; Y ...; and Z...
The disadvantages of the new approach can be discussed under three headings, which are ...

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

2. Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing phrases anticipate what will happen in the upcoming parts of the text. They typically open the writing and are a central part of introductions. The main function of foreshadowing signposting is to preview the content to come, as opposed to the organization of the text (as in listing signposting above).

In the example below, the author previews upcoming content with the phrase “In the next section”.

In the next section, I will examine some of the implications of Goals 2000 and No Child Left Behind on the educational situation of immigrant children, the roles of state and federal legislatures in passing legislation, as well as the role of the courts in deciding issues of contention - in essence, issues of federalism. I argue that this ground-breaking trend toward a convergence of federal power in directing educational policies is unlikely to be successful without more input from states, especially in meeting the needs of immigrant groups within states.

Taken from MICUSP: National Identity and Language Education Policy.

More Foreshadowing Phrases:

This study set out to explore...
The aim of the chapter is to introduce …
This chapter seeks to assess the impact of …
This chapter is subdivided into three sections. The first section will attempt to assess whether …
The second part highlights the key theoretical concepts which …
This chapter contextualises the research by providing background information on …
This chapter discusses the specific methods by which the research and analyses were conducted.
The next chapter describes synthesis and evaluation of ...
A summary of the main findings, together with …, is provided in the next chapter.
The next chapter describes the procedures and methods used in this investigation …
In the next section, I will present the principal findings of the current investigation ...
These analytical procedures and the results obtained from them are described in the next chapter.

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

3. Changing Topic

This type of signposting is a straightforward way to tell your readers that you have stopped developing specific topics in your discussion. Rather than simply previewing the next topic, as in foreshadowing signposting, changing topic signposting mentions the previous focus and then announces the shift.

In the example below, the writer accomplishes this with the phrases “Now that we have considered” (previous topic) and “let us move to” (new topic).

Now that we have considered the treatment of multiple hedging in the research literature, let us move to a brief overview of some textbooks used for teaching academic writing, which will not only give examples of the different extents to which hedging is covered in textbooks (which is explained in much more detail by Hyland 1994) but will also give an indication of whether or not textbooks devote time or focus to multiple hedging and the question of its acceptability or to underhedging and overhedging as potential problem areas for students.

Taken from MICUSP: Attitudes towards and Frequency of Multiple Hedging in Written Academic English

4. Going Backward

Backward signposting is helpful when you need to remind your readers about points you have made previously in your text which are useful to provide continuity to your arguments.

In the example below, the author reminds the reader of a point made earlier in the text with the phrase “As previously stated”.

As previously stated, there are many different ways in which so can be used. Many of these uses cannot be placed into the anaphoric, discourse marker or deictic categories. Because of this we have created this other examples section where we will explain some of the other types of so.

More Phrases to Go Backward:

As discussed above, …
As explained earlier, …
As previously stated, …
As indicated previously, …
As described on the previous page, …
As was mentioned in the previous chapter, …
Returning (briefly) to the (subject/issue) of X, …
As explained in the introduction, it is clear that …
As was pointed out in the introduction to this paper, …
As mentioned in the literature review, ...

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

5. Progress

Progress signposting is helpful to let the readers know where they are in the discussion, or as a reminder, such as drawing the reader’s attention to previously stated information, especially when your writing is lengthy. Progress signposting also signals to the readers that there is more material to come.

In the example below, the writer reminds the reader of their progress through the text up to this point (“So far, we discussed”) and then adds additional information (“We showed that”). In the final sentence, “However” is used to signal that the discussion will now more on to a new focus.

So far, we discussed the implication of considering different forms of knowledge according to their nature (i.e. modal vs. amodal) or their level of abstractness for explaining conceptual activities (i.e. categorization or generalization effects). We showed that conceptual activities could be explained thanks to a global-matching process that occurred on modal exemplars instead of using multiple forms of memory representation. However, it might still be possible that we use different forms of knowledge depending on the nature of the activity (i.e. memory activities vs. perceptual activities).

More Phrases to Indicate Progress:

The studies presented thus far provide evidence that ...
Two important themes emerge from the studies discussed so far:
In view of all that has been mentioned so far, one may suppose that ...
Thus far, the thesis has argued that …

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

6. Summary

Summary signposting is helpful to conclude a paper or specific section and highlight the central takeaways.

In the example below, the author employs “In sum” and “This chapter addressed” to draw attention to the “evidence reviewed in the chapter,” which reinforces the key findings.

In sum, evidence exists for the mental simulation of space, speed and time in the comprehension of both word and sentences. Importantly, the relationship between language and perception appears to be bidirectional (language affects perception and vice versa)…
This chapter addressed the embodiment of language about space, speed and time. These three domains may less obviously be grounded in our perceptual processes for two reasons…
The evidence reviewed in this chapter has shown that space, speed and time are in fact dimensions that are included in mental simulations, or situation models, built during discourse comprehension.

More Phrases to Summarize Literature:

Together, these studies indicate that ...
Overall, these studies highlight the need for ...
Considering all of this evidence, it seems that ...
Collectively, these studies outline …
In all the studies reviewed here, X is recognised as …
The evidence presented in this section suggests that ...
Taken together, these studies support the notion that …
Overall, there seems to be some evidence to indicate that ...
Together these studies provide important insights into the ...
All of the studies reviewed here support the hypothesis that …
These research findings reported here consistently point towards …
The evidence reviewed here seems to suggest a pertinent role for …
These studies clearly indicate that there is a relationship between …

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

More Phrases to Summarize Sections of your Paper:

The previous section has shown that …
To conclude this section, the literature identifies …
This section has reviewed the three key aspects of …
In summary, it has been shown from this review that …
This chapter has described the methods used in this investigation and it has …
This section has attempted to provide a brief summary of the literature relating to …

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

More Phrases to Summarize Findings and Conclusions:

This study has identified …
The research has also shown that …
The second major finding was that …
These experiments confirmed that...
This study has found that generally …
The investigation of X has shown that …
The results of this investigation show that …
The most obvious finding to emerge from this study is that …
One of the more significant findings to emerge from this study is that …

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

Signposting Relations

You can use this type of signposting to show that you are constructing logical steps in your writing, show the relationship between your ideas, and make them clear to the reader.

Here are five common types of signposting relations:

Explaining
Similarity
Contrast
Cause-effect
Emphasis

1. Explaining

In academic writing, clarity is fundamental. Explaining expressions guide your readers through your ideas to enhance their understanding.

In the following example, the writer proposes a redefinition/reclassification of key terms in their paper, using explaining expressions to make sure this is clear to the reader.

The terms citizenship education and civic education have typically been used interchangeably to refer to aspects of the school curriculum- whether formal or informal- that prepare young people for their roles as citizens. However, I would like to propose that we consider these terms in a more nuanced manner and to think of them as distinct entities.

Adapted from MICUSP: Schools and the development of national identity in young children: A justification for comparison.

More phrases to clarify concepts, theories or processes:

Throughout this paper, the term ‘X’ will refer to ...
The term ‘X’ will be used in this thesis to refer to …
Historically, the term ‘X’ has been used to describe …
It is necessary here to clarify exactly what is meant by ...
The phrase ‘X’ will be used in this study to describe the …
According to Smith (2002), X can be defined as follows: ‘ ... ’
In this article, the abbreviation XYZ will be used to refer to ...
Throughout this dissertation, the term ‘X’ will be used to refer to ...
The term ‘X’ is a relatively new name for ..., commonly referred to as ...
In this essay, the term ‘X’ will be used in its broadest sense to refer to all ...
In this dissertation, the terms ‘X’ and ‘Y’ are used interchangeably to mean ...

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

2. Similarity

Drawing parallels between ideas is a crucial signposting strategy. Establishing similarities fosters cohesion and aids in illustrating associations between concepts or other texts, enriching the depth of your discussion.

In the following example, the writer draws parallels between anti-immigration sentiment in the United States at different time periods.

There are many similarities between the immigration debates that occurred at the beginning of the twentieth century and those that are occurring now, almost one hundred years later... In the mid-nineteenth century, many Irish Catholics immigrants were also vilified and looked upon with mistrust. Even earlier, Native Americans cannot have been happy at the arrival of the white Anglo-Saxon Protestants who took over their land. Hopefully, the understanding that no matter who we are, those who were here before us looked upon our arrival with suspicion will help us change our attitude towards immigration, and to realize that each new wave of immigrants has brought positive changes to the United States. The current new wave will too, if we only give them the opportunity.

Taken from MICUSP: Immigration and Americanization: Then and Now.

More phrases to establish similarity:

Both X and Y share a number of key features.
There are a number of similarities between X and Y.
The effects of X on Y are similar to those of Z.
Both X and Y generally take place in .
These results are similar to those reported by (Smith et al. 1999).
This definition is similar to that found in (Smith, 2001) who writes:
The X is similar to that of comparable studies (e.g. Smith et al. 1999).
The approach used in this investigation is similar to that used by other researchers.
Studies have compared Xs in Ys and found that they are essentially identical.

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

3. Contrast

In academic writing, signaling contrast is essential to clearly delineating differences between concepts, theories, or perspectives, either your own or among other thinkers, time periods, etc.

In the following passage, the writer contrasts Dewey’s educational ideas with those of traditional schooling through the use of signposting language, such as "rather than," "unlike," and "whereas,".

Dewey’s new educational ideas were centered around a classroom in which children would be active participants, exploring the world around them, guided by a teacher, rather than the traditional schooling where they were required to memorize facts given by the teacher. Unlike traditional schooling, which was set up to teach a large group of children the same information, Dewey’s ideal school would individualize instruction, and students would learn at their own rates. In short, the traditional method of schooling was centered on the teacher and the textbook, whereas Dewey’s method focused on the individual student.

Taken from MICUSP: Curriculum Changes in the Progressive Era and Great Depression

More phrases to establish contrast:

Unlike Smith, Jones (2014) has argued …
In contrast to Smith, Jones (2014) maintains …
Despite this, little progress has been made in the ...
However, this system also has a number of serious drawbacks.
On the other hand, in spite of these recent findings about the role of ...,
X is different from Y in a number of respects.
X differs from Y in a number of important ways.
There are a number of important differences between X and Y.
Areas where significant differences have been found include X and Y.
In contrast to earlier findings, however, no evidence of X was detected.
A descriptive case study differs from an exploratory study in that it uses …

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

4. Cause-effect

In academic writing, using clear markers of cause-effect allow you as a writer to show the connections between actions and outcomes,

In the following example, the writer frames the research questions around causes and effects.

A handful of scholars have focused on this issue and have used a variety of methods to research the following types of questions: What has caused the growing use of part-time faculty at community colleges? Should it be a concern? What are its effects? How should it be addressed?

Taken from MICUSP: Growing Trend of Part-Time Faculty at Community Colleges.

More phrases to establish cause-effect relations:

X may have been an important factor in ...
X may have contributed to the increase in ...
X may have been caused by an increase in ...
X may have played a vital role in bringing about ...
In the literature, X has been associated with Y.
X in many cases may be associated with ...
There is some evidence that X may affect Y.
It is not yet clear whether X is made worse by Y.
This suggests a weak link may exist between X and Y.
The use of X may be linked to ...

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

5. Emphasis

In academic writing, emphasis is often key to conveying the significance of specific ideas. Emphasizing expressions through careful word choice or repetition ensures that crucial points stand out, enhancing readers' comprehension of your main arguments.

In the following text, the writer emphasizes one particular finding that they want the reader to pay attention to, possibly because this is where their topic leads next.

This increasing population of international students, especially from Asia, in the United States faces special challenges in terms of adaptation to a new living and learning environment at host universities and colleges (Perrucci & Hu, 1995). In addition to academic pressures, many international students tend to experience a variety of adjustment concerns, including language difficulties, insufficient financial resources, social integration, challenges in daily life tasks, homesickness, and role conflicts (Mallinckrodt & Leong, 1992). Interestingly, several studies suggest that students from Asia have more difficulty adjusting to life in the United States than international students from non-Asian countries (Abe, Talbot & Geelhoed, 1998).

Taken from MICUSP: International Student Adjustment.

More phrases to demonstrate emphasis:

Most significantly...
Interestingly...
Notably...
Most importantly...
It is well known that …
It is a well-known fact that …
Smith’s well-known argument that …
It is well known among educational researchers that …

(Adapted from the Academic Phrasebank)

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

On Campus Services

Book a writing consultation (OSSC)

What are Stance & Voice and How to Apply them in Academic Writing

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Thu, 23 May 2024 15:45:07 +0000

What are Stance & Voice and How to Apply them in Academic Writing ana.lacerda@ma… Thu, 05/23/2024 - 11:45

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, English language

Skills Keywords:

Vocabulary, Writing process

This Resource Page will help you:

Understand the meaning of stance and voice in academic writing
Learn when and why stance and voice are relevant for graduate students
Learn strategies for utilizing stance and voice effectively in your writing
Learn how to take a stance and balance your voice with those of other authors

What is Stance?

Stance means taking a position or showing what you think in relation to ideas, theories, findings, etc. Taking a stance is important for showing both your understanding of and opinion on an idea or claim. This also helps you demonstrate your critical thinking and analysis skills and is one of the first steps to producing original academic work.

How to Take a Stance

You can use the following phrases and examples to take a stance in academic writing. This includes expressing the degrees of likelihood of a claim and showing distance or closeness to a claim.

Express degrees of likelihood of a claim:

Sentence starters

It is clear that...

It is rather clear that...

It is very probable/highly likely that...

It is probably/likely that...

It is possible that...

It is unlikely that...

Adjectives

There is a definite/strong/good/slight/small possibility that...

Show your distance from a claim:

Attribute a point to the past or early stages of research knowledge

Based on the limited data available...

According to a preliminary study...

According to some historical studies...

In the view of earlier scholars...

Soften a claim

Modal verbs:

Mental health education can/may/might help students’ quality of life.

Softening verbs:

Mental health education seems to/appears to/tends to help students’ quality of life.

Weaker reporting verbs: claims, suggests, assumes

Recent research suggests that poverty contributes to children’s low academic achievement.

Weaker main verbs:

Recent research suggests that poverty contributes to children’s low academic achievement.

Frequency words:

Children living in poverty generally/often perform poorly in school.

Limit the subject:

Many/Some children living in poverty perform poorly in school.

Add restrictions/conditions/exceptions:

In many areas of the world, children living in poverty perform poorly in school, but parental involvement can make a difference.

Show your closeness to a claim:

Attribute the point to recent or more well-established research

In the view of many scholars...

It is well established that...

There is a general consensus about...

According to recent research...

Strengthen a claim

Adverbs: clearly, definitely, surely

Mental health education clearly helps students’ quality of life.

Adjectives: valuable, impressive, positive, significant

Study X has provided valuable insight into the issue of mental health education

Stronger reporting verbs: finds, confirms, asserts

Recent studies have confirmed that poverty causes children's low academic achievement.

Stronger main verbs:

Recent studies have confirmed that poverty causes children's low academic achievement.

Tip 1: Choose purposefully among these strategies based on what you want to express. Rather than choosing a phrase or expression randomly or because "it sounds good", start with what you are trying to communicate (e.g., how close /distant your stance is from a certain idea) and then find a phrase that expresses that.

Tip 2: You can combine strategies, but don’t overdo it! Use only one strategy in the main claim part of the sentence.

Good example: According to recent studies, it is highly likely that mental health education helps students’ quality of life.

Poor example: According to recent studies, it is possible that in some cases mental health education seems to help students’ quality of life.

What is Voice?

Academic voice refers to the differentiation of your own words, thoughts, and ideas from those of others. This is important because you want to use the voices of other scholars to support your voice and stance, rather than have other voices dominate your own. Making the range of academic voices clear to your reader is an integral part of effective academic writing.

How to Use your own Voice

Generally, a sentence without a citation or the use of strategies to signal other voices (see below) will be assumed to be the voice of the student writer. The exception is when you are expressing common knowledge, which do not need citations (e.g. “K-12 education systems in Canada are run by each provincial government”).

In a paragraph or section, you can start with a point or main idea (your voice), then back it up with evidence (other voices) and then end with an explanation or evaluation (your voice). Check the model below to understand how different voices appear in a paragraph.

In: Kathy Bickmore, Ruth Hayhoe, Caroline Manion, Karen Mundy & Robyn Read (Editors), 2017, _Comparative and International Education: Issues for Teachers_, 2nd edition (pp. 268-299). Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press.

Using Different Voices in a Paragraph (example) (14.01 KB, Word)

For users with accessibility needs: this example shows how different voices are used within a paragraph.

Tip: Don’t be afraid to take a stance in relation to published research and other scholars. As you are now grad students, you have the authority to enter these scholarly debates.

Examples

Main Idea:

Declarative Statements

School uniforms benefit students by eliminating competition based on designer labels.

A competitive, efficiency-based development model has not considered the rate at which natural resources are being exploited.

If current trends continue, the likelihood of species extinction in Australia continues to increase unless more stringent measures are adopted.

Recommendations

For several reasons, the Supreme court should have...

In light of the research findings, it is recommended that...

Explanation/Evaluation:

Explanation

In other words...

A possible explanation for this might be...

This [data] means that…

This [study] shows…

This is why…

This is important because..

Evaluation/Critique

The main weakness with this theory is that …

The key problem with this explanation is that …

However, this theory does not fully explain why …

The study would have been more relevant if the researchers had asked …

One major drawback of this approach is that …

How to Incorporate the Voice(s) of Others

Here is where the evidence comes in in the model presented in the image above. Bringing other voices into your text may involve direct voice (quotations) or indirect voice (paraphrases and summaries). Make sure that these voices are clearly labelled with correct APA citations or strategies for maintaining voice so that you do not make another’s voice seem like your own.

Here are some examples of strategies to introduce evidence from other sources:

Direct Quotes

In discussing the importance of teaching study skills, Jordan (1997) comments that “study skills are not something acquired instinctively” (p. 8).

For more information, check our Resource Page on How to Use Direct Quotes.

Paraphrasing

As students do not obtain study skills automatically, it is very important to teach them these skills (Jordan, 1997).

For more information, check our Resource Pages on How to Paraphrase and Citations & APA Style.

Summarizing

It is important to teach study skills to students (Jordan, 1997).

For more information, check our Resource Page on How to Summarize.

For more information on how to integrate others' research into your paper, check our Resource Page How to Integrate Others' Research into your Writing.

How to Maintain Others’ Voices

You do not need to cite every single sentence to maintain the voice of another author. In addition, avoid simply citing at the end of a paragraph as it will be unclear where the different voices start and finish. Rather, cite at the beginning of a new voice and then use phrases such as the following to maintain that voice throughout the section:

The authors go on to state that...

(Name of author) continues by arguing that...

He/she also mentions that ...

The article concludes that...

Example:

Lattuca (2002) maintains that interdisciplinary work results in productive engagements and innovative scholarship. At the same time, she recognizes the conflicts that it can create as it confronts the entrenched assumptions and practices of the traditional academic world.

Taken from MICUSP: Diversifying Communities of Practice in Higher Education

How to Shift between Others’ Voices

When moving from an author’s voice to another author’s voice in your writing, a new citation is the primary way to signal the shift. Likewise, the use of transition words can explicitly show the relationships between voices (agreement, contrast, etc.).

Common transition words include:

According to (citation),

Similarly, (citation) argues that...

On the contrary, (citation) points out that...

Example:

Lattuca (2002) maintains that interdisciplinary work results in productive engagements and innovative scholarship. John-Steiner and Meehan (2002) also stress the role that transformation plays in the appropriation of technologies, psychological tools, and scientific and artistic symbols.

Taken from MICUSP: Diversifying Communities of Practice in Higher Education

For more information:

How to Integrate Others' Research into your Writing

How to Write Cohesively

How to Talk to your Readers: Signposting

Tip: Make sure that your own voice is the primary voice in the text. Remembering to start and end paragraphs with your voice, with evidence from other voices in the middle, will help you achieve this.

Putting it All Together

Stance & Voice Paragraph (example) (76.27 KB, PDF)

This example with annotations shows how a student writer takes a stance and shifts between voices in a paragraph about Mathematics programs.

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

Academic Phrasebank | The University of Manchester

On Campus Services

How to Use Direct Quotes

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 17:31:24 +0000

How to Use Direct Quotes ana.lacerda@ma… Wed, 04/17/2024 - 13:31

Skills Categories:

Academic writing

Skills Keywords:

Citations, Plagiarism, Writing process

This Resource Page will help you:

Understand what direct quoting is and why it’s important in scholarly work
Learn the differences between direct quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing
Use strategies for effective direct quoting

What are Direct Quotes?

Direct quoting is the practice of copying a part of text or spoken words from a source into your own writing or speech, exactly as it originally appears. It involves reproducing the original author's exact words and is typically enclosed in quotation marks.

Direct quotes are often used when you want to emphasize the author's specific wording, particularly when it's a unique or influential phrasing. They require proper attribution to the original source to avoid plagiarism.

Below is an example of a direct quote:

According to Trenholm et al. (2015), “feedback practices are varied and complex” (p. 1197).

To know more about APA formatting rules for direct quotes, check our resource page on citations and how to use them in APA style.

What is the Difference between Direct Quoting, Paraphrasing and Summarizing?

Direct Quoting involves using the exact words from another source and placing them within quotation marks. Direct quotes are valuable when you want to emphasize the author's specific wording, particularly when it's a unique or influential phrasing.

Paraphrasing allows you to rephrase the source's content in your own words, maintaining the original meaning but altering the sentence structure and vocabulary. It requires a deeper engagement with the material and demonstrates your grasp of its nuances. To learn more about paraphrasing strategies, check our resource page on how to paraphrase.

Summarizing involves condensing the main ideas of a source into a shorter version, capturing the essential points while omitting minor details. Summaries provide an overview of the source's key arguments. To learn more about summarizing strategies, check our resource page on summarizing.

For more information on the difference among paraphrasing, quoting, and summarizing, check this video from St. Michael’s College Library and the Writing Advice page at the ��ݮ��Ƶ��.

Why do we use Direct Quotes?

Provide evidence: Direct quotes support arguments or claims made in academic writing, providing concrete evidence from reputable sources.
Ensure accuracy: Using the original author's exact words guarantees precision in conveying their ideas, avoiding misinterpretation or distortion of their meaning.

Increase authority: Quoting authoritative sources can lend credibility to the writer's argument, demonstrating thorough research and engagement with the topic or focused issues.
Engage with existing scholarship: Incorporating direct quotes allows you to engage directly with the work of other scholars, facilitating academic dialogue and critique.

When to Use and not to Use Direct Quotes

Direct quoting is appropriate...

When quoting a definition or specific term

García (2009) refers translanguaging as “the act performed by bilinguals of accessing different linguistic features or various modes of what are described as autonomous languages, in order to maximize communicative potential” (p. 140).

When an author expresses an idea uniquely or powerfully

According to Soreide (2006), “if several positions make clusters within a discourse, an identity will emerge” (p.529).

When providing evidence for an argument

The technological challenges faced by instructors and universities in teaching were also recognized by Stacey & Wiliam’s (2012) study, in which the authors found that instructors and universities had a difficult time to “keep pace with the use of technology for doing and teaching mathematics” (p. 721).

Direct quoting is not appropriate...

When synthesizing information from multiple sources

As indicated by scholars in most recent studies (e.g., Brown, 2020; James, 2023; Patal, 2022), the integration of technology into language education offers a multifaceted view on enhancing learning outcomes.

When summarizing the information in your own words is more concise

According to a study by Anderson and Jiang (2018), the pervasive use of digital media among adolescents has been linked to notable shifts in social interaction patterns. Specifically, they found a decline in face-to-face communication skills among youth, attributed to the increased preference for digital communication platforms. With the finding, the authors argued that this shift could have long-term implications for social development and relationship building in the digital age.

The information summarized above covers the three-page content elaborated in in Anderson and Jiang’s article.

When expressing your personal opinion or sharing your personal experiences

From my personal experience, incorporating only ten minutes of meditation into daily routine has significantly reduced my stress levels. Initially skeptical, I noticed a profound change over several weeks, marked by increased calmness and a better ability to handle stressful situations. This firsthand experience has convinced me of meditation’s potential benefits, aligning with the research findings of Smith et al. (2020) on the efficacy of mindfulness practices.

How to Use Direct Quotes

Integrating quotations in academic writing is a skill that requires balance. While quotations can provide valuable evidence and support for your arguments, you should use them sparingly. Overusing direct quotes can detract from your voice and analysis.

Here are some strategies on how to integrate quotations effectively without overusing them:

Selectively choose relevant quotations

Only use quotations that directly contribute to your argument or provide significant support. Avoid including quotations for the sake of filling space or appearing scholarly. Each quotation should have a clear purpose and relevance to your discussion.

Example: But it is not only the vocabulary of a language that determines how and what we think and perceive, but also the grammar. In the Hopi language, no distinction is made between past, present and future; it is a "timeless language" (Gross, 1996, p. 324), compared with English. In European languages, time is treated as an objective entity, as if it were a ruler with equal spaces or intervals marked off. There is a clear demarcation between past, present and future corresponding to three separate sections of a ruler.

You can also omit part of the contents of a quote by using an ellipsis (three dots) to represent the removed text. Please note that you should not change the original meaning of the quote when doing so.

Example: Gross (1996) points out that in the language it is "not only in the vocabulary… but also the grammar" (p.137) that influences how and what we understand.

Blend quotations with your own analysis

After presenting a quotation, follow up with your own analysis or interpretation. Explain the significance of the quotation in relation to your argument. This demonstrates your engagement with the material and reinforces your perspective.

Example: Smith (2001) claims that "education is the key to societal progress." (p. 12) This assertion aligns with the idea that informed citizens contribute to the advancement of society through knowledge and critical thinking.

Provide context for quotations

Before or after a quotation, provide contextual information to help readers understand its relevance. Explain why the quotation is significant, how it supports your argument, or how it contributes to the ongoing academic conversation.

Example: Dr. Johnson, a leading expert in education policy and reform, contends that technology holds the potential to revolutionize traditional teaching methods. In her influential work on the intersection of technology and education, she argues that the integration of digital tools in classrooms can cater to diverse learning styles, enhance student engagement, and better prepare individuals for the demands of the modern workforce. As she eloquently states, “In this digital age, education must evolve to meet the dynamic needs of learners, and technology serves as a catalyst for this transformative process” (2021, p. 34). By emphasizing the role of technology in transforming education, Dr. Johnson contributes to the ongoing academic conversation surrounding innovative teaching methodologies and the evolving landscape of learning environments.

Paraphrase or summarize

Instead of using a direct quotation, consider paraphrasing or summarizing the author's ideas. This allows you to incorporate the information in your own words while still crediting the source. Paraphrasing and summarizing demonstrate a deeper understanding of the material and showcase your analytical skills.

Check How to Summarize and How to Paraphrase for examples and strategies for summarizing and paraphrasing.

If you need support about direct quoting in APA style, refer to Citations and APA Style resource page. You can find the information regarding direct quotes from slide 4 and 5 in the section “What are In-Text Citations and How to Create them?”

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

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How to Integrate Others' Research into your Writing

ana.lacerda@mail.utoronto.ca — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 20:08:06 +0000

How to Integrate Others' Research into your Writing ana.lacerda@ma… Tue, 04/16/2024 - 16:08

Skills Categories:

Academic writing, English language

Skills Keywords:

Citations, Plagiarism, Vocabulary, Writing process

This Resource Page will help you:

Understand the importance of integrating others’ research into your own writing
Learn effective strategies for integrating others’ research.

Why should I Integrate Others’ Research into my own Writing?

Integrating others’ research into your own writing is essential for several reasons:

It strengthens the credibility and validity of your arguments by grounding them in existing scholarship and expert opinions.
It provides a foundation for generating new insights and ideas.
It fosters intellectual engagement and demonstrates respect for the contributions of others in the academic community.
By incorporating well-researched evidence, you demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the subject and contribute to scholarly conversation.
Integrating diverse perspectives allows for a more nuanced and well-rounded discussion, acknowledging the broader context and potential counterarguments.

How can I Integrate Others’ Research into my own Writing?

Common strategies to effectively incorporate existing research into your writing include integral and non-integral citations, reporting verbs, summarization, paraphrasing and direct quotes. If you are an ��ݮ��Ƶ�� student, remember to use APA style whenever you incorporate others' research into your own writing.

Click on each strategy below to learn more. Note: The "Paraphrasing", "Summarizing" and "Direct Quotes" buttons will take you to separate Resource Pages.

Integral Citations

Non-integral Citations

Reporting Verbs

Paraphrasing

Summarizing

Direct Quotes

Integral Citations

In academic writing, integral citations refer to the seamless integration of information from a source into the body of the text. This means that the author's name is incorporated directly into the sentence without the use of parentheses. Integral citations are part of the sentence structure and contribute to the overall flow of the narrative. Integral citations place the focus on the text/authors rather than on their ideas.

Structure of Integral Citations

Author’s name + (publication year) + reporting verb

Example: Smith (2019) argues that climate change has far-reaching implications for global biodiversity.

Other Structures of Integral Citations

According to + author’s name + (publication year)...
According to Huntley (1993)…
As indicated by + author’s name + (publication year)...
As indicated by Shu (2018)…
In the view of + author’s name + (publication year)...
In the view of Abe et al. (1998)…
The conclusion drawn in + author’s name + (publication year)...
The conclusion drawn in Shram and Lauver’s study (1998)…
Author’s name + (publication year) + paper discusses...
Dack’s (2017) paper discusses…

When should I use Integral Citations?

Integral citations work well in situations where you want to

Focus on a specific study
Focus on a specific author
Seamlessly incorporate the author's perspective or findings into your own sentence

Non-Integral Citations

Non-integral citations involve enclosing the author's name and publication year within parentheses. These citations are called “non-integral” because the source information is not an integral part of the sentence structure. Non-integral citations are typically placed at the end of the sentence or paragraph that refer to existing research and provide a clear reference to the source. These citations place more emphasis on the ideas as opposed to the text/author(s).

Structure of Non-Integral Citations

Information + (Author’s name, publication year)

Example: Recent research suggests that climate change has far-reaching implications for global biodiversity (Smith, 2019).

When Should I Use Non-Integral Citations?

Non-integral citations are appropriate when you don’t want the source information to disrupt the flow of your writing. For instance:

When the focus of your sentence is on a point or concept or finding. In other words, when the central point is what was found or argued, rather than who found or argued it.

Example: The decline in polar bear populations is alarming (Jones, 2020).

When the point or finding you are writing about is supported by two or more studies which need to be included between parentheses.

Example: English language proficiency was recognized as one of the major adjustment issues for international students (Mallinckrodt & Leong, 1992; Surdam & Collins, 1984).

Reporting Verbs

In academic writing, you need to comment on, evaluate, or agree/disagree with other sources. Reporting verbs help you to show the author’s viewpoint, your own viewpoint regarding the source, or the author’s stance regarding other literature.

You need to select an appropriate reporting verb to communicate these stances.

Reporting verbs are used for the following purposes:

Attributing ideas to their original sources

Reporting verbs signal to the reader that the upcoming information is not the student writer's original thought but is drawn from an external source. This attribution is essential for giving credit to the original thinkers and researchers, acknowledging their contributions to the field. The proper use of reporting verbs helps to avoid ambiguity and plagiarism.

Example: Schram and Lauver (1988) studied the relationship between international students’ adaptation and social alienation.

Indicating the Original Author's Perspective

Different reporting verbs carry different nuances and can indicate the author's attitude towards the cited material. For example, verbs like "argue," "assert," or "contend" suggest a strong and confident stance, while verbs like "suggest," "propose," or "claim" indicate a more tentative or neutral perspective.

Example: Schram and Lauver (1988) suggest that international students who have a strong social support system tend to adjust to college life in the United States more quickly and effectively than those who do not.

Indicating your perspective and stance

If you use a verb like ‘claims’, this suggests that you are unconvinced about the researchers’ arguments, as opposed to a verb like ‘proves’. In the following example, the writer indicates that they may not agree with the first group of scholars (claims).

Example: One group of scholars claims that the growing use of part-time faculty has serious detrimental effects and, therefore, urgent steps should be taken to reverse the trend. The roots of their argument stem from the belief that the predominant cause of the trend has been economic in nature. Another group of scholars, Gappa and Leslie included, has taken the view that the effects of the growing use of part-time faculty can actually be beneficial as long as part-time faculty receive the proper support and respect from their institutions.

Taken from MICUSP: Growing Trend of Part-time Faculty at Community Colleges

Types of Reporting Verbs

Using a variety of reporting verbs adds richness and precision to your writing, allowing you to convey the nuances of the authors' perspectives effectively.

Here is a list of common reporting verbs and how some of them can be used in context. Make sure you choose the correct reporting verb depending on the meaning you wish to convey.

Type of Reporting Verb	Tentative	Neutral	Strong
Argument	posits, proposes	argues	contends, asserts
Assertion	claims	asserts	emphasizes, maintains, declares
Claim	suggests, postulates	claims	asserts, contends
Conclusion	infers, deduces	concludes	decisively concludes, firmly asserts
Demonstration	illustrates, manifests	demonstrates	convincingly demonstrates
Emphasize	underscores, stresses	emphasizes	strongly emphasizes
Highlight	spotlights, accentuates	highlights	strongly highlights
Illustration	exemplifies, portrays	illustrates	vividly illustrates
Implication	insinuates, hints	implies	strongly implies
Indication	signifies, denotes	indicates	clearly indicates
Maintaining	contends, argues	maintains	strongly maintains
Noting	remarks, comments	notes	emphatically notes
Observation	discerns, perceives	observes	keenly observes
Pointing Out	emphasizes, underscores	points out	strongly points out
Proposition	suggests, recommends	proposes	strongly proposes

Examples of Reporting Verbs in Use

Tentative: The scholar proposed that a novel approach to solving the environmental crisis was needed.

Neutral: The scholar argued that a novel approach to solving the environmental crisis was needed.

Strong: The scholar asserted that a novel approach to solving the environmental crisis was needed.

Tentative: The psychologist posits that integrating technology into early childhood education might enhance learning outcomes.

Neutral: The psychologist argues that integrating technology into early childhood education enhances learning outcomes.

Strong: The psychologist contends that integrating technology into early childhood education is essential to enhance learning outcomes.

Tentative: The teacher remarks that incorporating group projects may potentially improve students' collaborative skills.

Neutral: The teacher notes that incorporating group projects improves students' collaborative skills.

Strong: The teacher emphatically notes that incorporating group projects is crucial for the development of students' collaborative skills.

Tentative: The educational researcher suggests that extending school hours might help increase student achievement.

Neutral: The educational researcher proposes that extending school hours would help increase student achievement.

Strong: The educational researcher strongly proposes that extending school hours is essential for significantly increasing student achievement.

Reporting Verbs: Common Issues and Solutions

Instructions: Click on the arrows below the progress bar to go to the next page or the previous page.

Use of Tenses in Reporting Verbs

You also need to pay attention to verb tenses when using reporting verbs in academic writing. This differs from discipline to discipline and often varies in different parts of research reporting (e.g. literature review, methodology, findings).

Here are some common verb tense patterns used in education (and social sciences more generally).

Past Tense

Use the past tense to refer to single studies. Here, we focus on the process or results of the research. These types of sentences are common in literature reviews, methodology, or findings sections. Possible verbs include: investigated, conducted, studied, analyzed, examined (process) / found, showed, revealed, identified, discovered (results).

Examples:

Schram & Lauver (1988) studied the relationship between international students’ adaptation and social isolation.

Fatima (2001) found that many international students experienced significant adjustment-related problems in immersion to a new culture.

Present Perfect Tense

Use the present perfect tense to refer to an area of inquiry. The focus is on general research activity among multiple studies. This is also found in literature reviews and introduction sections of a paper when we provide more background on the research.

Example:

Many researchers have sought to identify specific adjustment problems that international students have experienced (Fatima, 2001; Parr, Bradley & Bingi, 1992).

Present Tense

Use the present tense to refer to the current state of knowledge. This relates to general statements about accepted knowledge. These types of sentences are most often found in introduction sections when providing background on the state of knowledge on a topic/question.

Example:

Researchers agree that social support plays an important moderating role in protecting international students exposed to a new environment against the deleterious effects of acculturation stress (Cemalcilar, Falbo & Stapleton, 2005).

Present Tense or Past Tense?

The present tense is also generally used when expressing the claims and arguments of researchers. In addition, because texts still exist, we usually use the present tense because their statements/conclusions still exist in the present (not finished). These sentences also appear frequently in literature reviews and in the concluding sections of papers.

Example: Schram & Lauver (1998) suggest that international students who have a strong social support system tend to adjust to college life in the United States more quickly and effectively than those who do not.

In the above example, the article from 1998 still suggests the information. However, if we want to provide a historical perspective OR distance ourselves from the findings, the past tense is often used:

Example: From a historical perspective, Schram & Lauver (1998) suggested that international students who have a strong social support system tend to adjust to college life in the United States more quickly and effectively than those who do not. More recent research, however, has found that...

Template Paragraph

Here is a template paragraph that shows you how to use verb tenses correctly, as described above:

In the field of education, _____ has become a hot topic over the last 20 years. Several studies have found that ______ (citation; citation; citation). In particular, one study argues for ______ (citation). This research utilized a _____ research design and involved _____ participants. The findings suggest that _____. Ultimately, researchers now agree that _____.

Writing process

How to Write a Research Proposal Paper

Table of Contents

This Resource Page will help you:

What is a Research Proposal Paper?

Why Write a Research Proposal Paper?

How to Plan your Research Proposal

Structure of a Research Proposal Paper

Research Proposal Examples

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

Additional Resources

On Campus Services

Revising, Editing & Proofreading

Table of Contents

This Resource Page Will Help You:

Introduction

Step 1: Revising

What is Revising?

How to Revise your Paper: Reverse outlining

Step 2: Editing

What is Editing?

How to Edit your Paper

1. Sentence Structure

2. Clarity

3. Concision

4. Vocabulary usage

5. Grammatical accuracy

6. Tone and formality

7. Consider the audience

Step 3: Proofreading

What is Proofreading?

How to Proofread your Paper

1. Find a sample APA paper

2. Upgrade your punctuation

Example Paper

Our Tips

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

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How to Draft an Academic Paper

Table of Contents

This Resource Page will help you:

Introduction

Step 1: Understand the Structure of Academic Papers

Research Papers

Standalone Literature Reviews

Other Types of Academic Papers

Step 2: Create an Outline

Step 3: Draft / Write

Example of a Standalone Literature Review

Help & Additional Resources

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How to Write Conclusions

Table of Contents

This Resource Page will help you:

Introduction

Step 1: Summarize key points & main takeaways

Step 2: Make connections to the literature and/or theory presented earlier in the paper

Step 3: Zoom out: Discuss limitations, implications, and/or give recommendations

Example of a Conclusion

Our Tips

Help & Additional Resources

Related Resource Pages on ASH

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On Campus Services

How to Write Introductions

Table of Contents

This Resource Page will help you:

Introduction

Step 1: Introduce the General Topic and Grab the Reader’s Attention

Step 2: Describe the Situation/Background Information

Step 3: Identify a Problem and Why it is Important to Solve

Step 4: Look at What Other Researchers Have Found/Done

Step 5: Outline the Focus, Purpose, and Main Argument/Research Questions

Bonus Step: End with a ‘Roadmap’ for your Paper

Example of an Introduction

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