AWCPhrasesUniWestmin051109

Academic Writing Centre
Useful phrases for academic writing
Here are suggestions for using words and phrases which could improve your academic writing structure and style significantly.
1. INTRODUCTION
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This essay will deal with the following aspects of the question...
The aim of this essay is ......

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2. GIVING AN OVERVIEW OF THE ESSAY CONTENT
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In order to link.... with ...., the background to ... will be briefly outlined.
The first part of the analysis will examine....
The second part of this analysis will consider...
The final level of the analysis consists of...

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3. MAKING A POINT
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It is clear/ noticeable that...
It is necessary/ important/ useful/ interesting/to note/point out/ highlight/ emphasise that

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4. EMPHASIS MARKERS show clearly what you think is most important but allow you to avoid personal language such as 'I think'
Adjectives: main, crucial, important, significant, key, essential
Nouns: focus, element, concept, theory, aspect, part, idea, point, argument, discussion, debate
Verbs: to emphasise, to summarise, to focus, to highlight
Examples:
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The key aspect of this argument is
The most crucial point made so far
It is worth noting that
Another relevant point is that
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University of Westminster http://gsearch.wmin.ac.uk/search?q=cache:qjMrJmby7iAJ:www.wmin.ac.uk/sshl/page2224+academic+phrases&site=default_collection&client=default_frontend&access=p&ie=UTF8&output=xml_no_dtd&proxystylesheet=default_frontend&oe=ISO-8859-1Accessed 22/10/09

5. INTRODUCING A NEW IDEA
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Turning now to the question of
Bearing in mind the previous points,
Having considered (X)
With regard to
As far as ....... is concerned
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6. HEDGING
The group of 11 words called modals can help you avoid over-generalisation as they express degrees of