Academic Writer

academic writer: language: essential language
Essential Language
Abstracts/ Introductions
Use of 'will'
Use of the passive
Use of the present tense
Introductions
Overview
Limiting the scope
Keywords
Point of view
Questions
Research gaps
Research
Main Body
Cause and effect
Comparative
Chronological
Classification
Making two points
Making several points
Analogy
Hypothetical futures
Conclusions
Summarizing content
Summarizing argument
Wider implications
Giving your opinion
Suggestions for the future

Abstracts/ Introductions

Use of 'will'
This paper will describe the development of...

It will focus on issues relating to z from both x and y viewpoints.

The paper will examine some of the issues faced in...

It will conclude by suggesting some guidelines for...
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Use of the passive
x are now well established and y based on such studies is now being used around the world.

This paper describes x and the ways in which y may be used to identify...

Examples of x are identified and described and suggestions are given for y

x also offers the opportunity to explain y
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Use of the present tense
This paper explores...

It considers how x influences y

These developments have implications for...

How we come to terms with x will have significant impact on y

The paper concludes with some ideas on how x might effect the role of y in the future.
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Introductions

Overview
x has the potential to make huge improvements in y

Whether this potential will be realized for x depends on y

In this paper, I will briefly examine the impact of x on y.

I will then investigate how x is influencing y.

This paper sets out to identify

It looks first at some of the issues facing

It then goes on to look at the position of

It then looks at the effect of these changes

In conclusion it identifies that

x has had a big effect on the y not all of it positive.

We can view the effect from three perspectives:

Additionally, two key areas must be addressed, these concern x and y.

x is here to stay. Therefore making an argument against its existence would be pointless.

However, in this essay it will be argued that, in order to achieve x, y must be implemented
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Limiting the scope
This paper examines...

Two key arguments are developed. Firstly, that x has been crucial to the way in which y have developed...

Secondly, that...

Given the time available I will be unable to provide a comprehensive survey of x so I will simply use some key developments in order to illustrate y
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Keywords
In this article the acronym x will be frequently used.

In its narrow sense it simply means y and is usually used to describe...

However it also has a wider meaning in terms of z

In this sense x can be used as a generic term for

It is in this latter generic sense that we will use the term x in the following article.
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Point of view
The basis of this paper is that...

Despite x there remains a feeling that...

However, as I shall argue later, y has in fact....
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Questions
This paper will suggest four key issues which need to be addressed when considering...

These four issues are then related to the three questions posed in the paper title: why x, what elements of y to evaluate; and, who should conduct such an evaluation.

The paper concludes by reflecting briefly on...
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Research gaps
There have been a number of valuable studies of self-employment using x all of which present evidence on y

However, none of these studies provides z

While there has been some research on x (a,1984; b,1985), little has been written about the effects y

In education in general, x has played a vital role for more than one hundred years (Madaus et al, 1983).

In contrast, it is only recently (Star, 1994; Gardner & Miller, 1999) that attention has been paid to the evaluation of y

However, if we are to argue that... it remains a matter of serious concern that there is no research on...

This paper will therefore suggest four key issues which need to be addressed when considering...
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Research
In x we are working on a research project which is examining the feasibility of y

We are currently piloting

We selected a group of x and asked them to y

The x were then inputted and combined to form y.

Throughout 1992, we conducted research, funded by x into how y

We focused on...

We subsequently taped...

We have also been interviewing...

Our focus in this paper is on...

In what follows we shall draw primarily on...
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Main Body

Cause and effect
x argue that y has two sources. Firstly, it arises when...

Secondly, it arises through

Faced with the prospect x, the only alternative is to...
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Comparative
To summarise, this study has examined the role of x in y and z.

It has found that x differs between the two

Whereas the x tend to be (give details), on the other hand, y tend to be more (give details)
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Chronological
(cite source) divided the history of x into three distinct phases.

The first of these phases dates back x when...

Around the mid-1800s, x changed.

By the early 1900s, however, x had been redefined a third time. In this phase...
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Classification
A recent survey gives us insight into the attitudes of...

From 1982 until 1985 x surveyed a number of y

He found that he could classify x into three categories. The first type of x engaged in...

A second group, adopted y

A third group, adopted what he called...

Petulla's findings must be viewed in the light of the fact that...

Nevertheless the survey suggests that...
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Making two points
not just…but also

not only…but also

either…or

as well as…

this coupled with…

x is not the only…

or

this together with…
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Making several points
x has for some time now been regarded as y

A good example of this is x

As well as being x, it can also be used for...

Another feature of x is that...

The other beauty of x is that...
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Analogy
Using a different analogy, Mar says x is like y

Is it fair to compare x to y?

There are some parallels, but the differences are just as striking. In terms of similarities...

An analogy can be drawn to...

Hypothetical futures
If x is to be practiced as y, and not just as z...

To do this we must begin to look at...
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Conclusions

Summarizing content
This study has demonstrated that it is fairly simple to...

The methodology described is potentially applicable in a wide range of contexts...

It has also shown that...

Summarizing argument
As we have seen the fundamental principle of the x approach is to...

Traditional x are (describe negative feature)

y on the other hand offers not only z, it also (describe positive feature)...

It is clear therefore that...
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Wider implications
We might therefore ask ourselves whether

Thus it could be argued that
On the whole x led to an increased awareness of y

For the first time many people began to recognize that

Perhaps this new awareness will

Giving your opinion
It may be time for...

At the very least, x should not...

Perhaps there are other explanations for x

Suggestions for the future
Many will argue that

What can we do?

But x can also play a part.
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Academic Writer 2000