A guide to a strategic use of verbs in academic writing Academic writing involves a lot of reporting, analysing, paraphrasing and critiquing of other people’s ideas.  However, you are expected to do even more than construct your own analysis based on what you have read; you need to report your ideas with some sense of confidence and authority.  You cannot just fill your essay with ‘he/she says’ to report the ideas of authors you have read. You need to use a range of more sophisticated verbs that indicate you are reading critically and are able to analyse and evaluate ideas as you go ..read more

Many people these days have a Curriculum Vitae (CV, from the Latin) or a resume (from the French) which they tout when applying for various jobs/positions.  A CV or a resume is a document containing information about you, your skills and your experience in the world of work, and serves to introduce you to a prospective employer. For the purposes of this Blog and to avoid confusion, “CV” only will be used.  Many of these so-called CVs are taken from electronic sources, with little adaptation or modification.  They end up often looking boring and doing little to promote the applic ..read more

A document that is well-written and reasonably easy to follow should have the qualities of cohesion and balance.  What do we mean by these two terms? Cohesion in writing In an academic context, ‘cohesion’ means that a text hangs well together.  It is clear, the writer’s point of view (or argument) follows logically, and the text displays a sense of balance. A sense of balance is enhanced when the ideas presented seem to follow logically and are supported by evidence.  This does not happen by accident.  It requires careful planning, a clear idea of one’s argument or line of ..read more

On target with bullets How to use bullet points effectively Much writing in more recent times contains bullet points, a fact which may reflect the modern haste to summarise issues.  Bullet points tend to be used for formal and semi-formal texts, and are now often used where sub-clauses were used in the past.  The computer, which forms automatic lists with the press of the ‘return’ button, also tends to encourage the use of bullets.  Unfortunately, there is a lot of carelessness in the use of bullet points: they are sometimes over-used or used inconsistently or inappropriately.&n ..read more

One of the side effects of the ever-increasing take-up of electronic communication is that punctuation is being overlooked and forgotten. That might be alright for mobile phone users – but is not so if you are communicating in more formal contexts or in academic writing. Punctuation is essential because, above all, it clarifies and shapes meaning. If we are speaking with someone, we can easily clarify meaning by asking questions and seeking more information. Writing does not give us that luxury – we need to express ourselves clearly and ensure that misunderstanding is avoided. Punctuation is t ..read more

It is generally acknowledged that successful speakers and writers have a way of reaching their audience that makes them successful, or better than others who would claim to be good communicators. After all, what is the secret of being a good communicator? It’s getting your message across to an audience in a convincing and/or interesting and/or memorable and/or enjoyable way.  Did the audience feel it was useful and enjoyable to hear or read you? Did the audience feel their time listening to you or reading you was well spent? Will the audience want to come back to you? First of all, what ..read more

How polite are you? Ways of being polite are often expressed through language.  However, different cultures and languages have different ways of doing this.  In the English language, and particularly in an Australian context, the words ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ are extremely important.  One often hears parents encouraging young children to say please and thank you in appropriate situations.  Of course, these words exist in other languages, but in some cultures, they may not be enough and in others, they are not as essential, because there are other ways of indicating politen ..read more

In the current climate of the COVID 19 context, many of us are drowning in a sea of media and news reports, yet too afraid to ignore what is being reported. News is coming at us at speed, and from all sorts of different sources, and not many of us are undertaking a careful analysis of what we hear and read. And yet, that is the most important thing. We need to carefully evaluate our sources and the extent to which we pay attention to accuracy, ‘sound advice’, ‘expert views’ and, sometimes, opinionated self-importance! This requires being a critical thinker, an essential skill for operating in ..read more

Having worked closely with English as a second language (*ESL) students over many years, I have found some common difficulties they experience, irrespective of their first language or cultural background. Some common issues for ESL students, particularly in written English, include the following: Use of articles – wrong use or omission of a/the Verb endings/agreements – wrong verb endings and/or confusion with singular and plural Verb tenses – confusion with past, present, conditional and other tenses ESL students’ writing also often requires attention in the following areas: Cohesion – wro ..read more

I don’t make mistakes! So you think you’re a pretty good writer? You think you probably would not make the common mistakes that others do?  Then read on and see if you do, indeed, avoid some of the more common pitfalls….. Good writing does not come easily – you need to work at it!  If you are engaged in serious, or what I call ‘high-level’ writing, such as for a thesis or policy document, then you will know you really need to work hard at it.  Good writing does not just happen.  So editing, and indeed revision and polishing, are absolutely necessary.  A good starting p ..read more