I met some new international students yesterday and they were complaining about the weather in the UK. It’s official – August this year was the worst August that we have ever had according to records, but that’s not a bad thing if you are sitting in class! Brits try to make themselves feel better by saying things like “Maybe we’ll have an Indian summer!” ( a warm period in autumn) but really we know the autumn will be equally dismal (and I think you can guess the meaning of ‘dismal’!).
Referring to other people’s ideas in your writing is a critical part of using English for Academic Purposes, and doing it well is hard! Today I am going to show you one way of structuring a paragraph which includes a reference to other people’s work.
Here’s an example paragraph in an essay discussing the difficulties faced by international students at universities:
One of the biggest difficulties facing overseas students in British universities is the issue of English language competence. Robertson et al (2000) report that overseas students were often unable to play a full role in classrooms because they were so conscious of their restricted command of English. Clearly any university which is serious about recruiting and teaching international students needs to make sure that those students receive adequate language support.
We can see that in this paragraph there is:
1. A topic sentence:
One of the biggest difficulties facing overseas students in British universities is the issue of English language competence.
This sentence clearly puts forward an idea (or thesis) . It is the topic for the whole sentence.
2. Evidence from an outside source which supports the topic sentence:
Robertson et al (2000) report that students were often unable to play a full role in classrooms because they were so conscious of their restricted command of English.
3. Input from the writer on the implications (effect, consequences) of the evidence and topic sentence:
Clearly any university which is serious about recruiting and teaching international students needs to make sure that those students receive adequate language support.
As usual I am pointing you to a resource which helps you practise this language point, and today this comes from the University of Victoria, Wellington. Their Academic Writing Module neatly encapsulates writing paragraphs in Academic English. The first units focus on topic sentences and building paragraphs and I particularly like section 3 on incorporating sources. This material is here.