Academic Writing: Speech patterns and rhetorical devices
11. Choosing and stating
Ex. 1 Find Russian equivalents and make up sentences of your own with the following phrases:
- It appears (seems/ may be/ is) fair/ reasonable to say that …
- It is (would be) accurate to say that…
- It goes without saying that…
- It is (not even a half) truth to say that…
- It's often easier to do … than…
- In doing ...it is better to use…
- Instead of working in terms of …it is more convenient to introduce…
- It might be less confusing to use the theory…
- In order to measure ...it is crucial to calculate…
- In conclusion, it may be said that …
12. Arguing by negation
Ex. 1 Find Russian equivalents and make up sentences of your own with the following phrases:
- It is beyond the scope of this paper
- It is not my purpose/ the purpose of this article
- It is doubtful/ seems unlikely that this theory …
- It is in principle impossible
- It would not be productive
- It is thus not surprising
- It needs no argument that…
- It is misleading/ nonsensical/ pointless/ not correct/ an error to focus only on…
- It would not be adequate to regard/ consider…
- It cannot/ can hardly be denied that..
13. Arguing by inversion
Ex. 1 Find Russian equivalents and make up sentences of your own with the following phrases:
- It is here where these effects are most important.
- It is in this area of inquiry that much of the terminology originates.
- It is one of the basic principles of …
- It is exactly the case.
- It is precisely this that distinguishes…
- It is our aim to…
14. Parenthesis
Ex. 1 Find Russian equivalents and make up sentences of your own with the following phrases:
a) connecting :
- In view of…
- From this point of view
- In a broad sense
- In this connection
- In particular
- In detail
- In this framework…
- In our current conception…
- In response to this....
- In practice, …
- With regard to, …
- In discussing/ surveying …
- From this perspective, let us re-examine…
- Methodologically/ Technically, ...this seems to be…
- In any area of science, there will be issues …
b) explaining:
- Given the notion/ limitation/ difficulty of…we can explain…
- Given the fact that…the conclusion is evident
- Given that, we can extend the interpretation оf
- With regard to…a certain clarification is necessary.
- Following … we will refer to…as …
- By exploring this paradigm,
- Admittedly, this problem is not new.
- Presumably/ That is to say,…
- Under certain/ experimental circumstances…
- In these (other) cases…
- According to the analysis given here…
- To this end,…
c) comparing and inferring:
- Accordingly/ alternatively/ equally/ equivalently/ similarly
- Likewise/ otherwise/ conversely/ consequently,
- By analogy/ contrast
- Because of this/ for this reason/ for the present,
- As compared with / in comparison with / as follows from …
- As a result (consequence)
- In this respect…
- As always…
- But/ however/ at best/ at the same time/ nevertheless/ still,
- Therefore/ hence/ so/ then/ thus/ whence/ on the contrary,
- On the one hand/ on the other hand…
- From the other side,...
- In reality/ In the latter (that/ this) case,
d) generalizing:
- Generally/ Typically/ Essentially/ Naturally/ Most important/ In general,
- On a more general level/ In a more general context,
- Typically, in other words/ As a general rule/ First of all,
- In effect/ In essence/ In a word/ In brief/ To simplify,
- In principle/ Seen as a whole
- In any case,
- To summarize the ideas…
e) succession:
- To begin with/ Next/ Again/ To repeat,…
- First(ly)/ Second(ly)/ Third(ly),…
- Ultimately/ In closing/ Finally,… .
- In short/ In summary /To summarize,…
- At this point,…
- Continuing in the same way,…
- Before looking at this matter, however, …
- Before we go into these problems,..
- As for …/ As far as … is concerned…
- Regarding …/ Apart from …/ Leaving aside…/ As matters stand,…
- To my very limited knowledge,…
- As far as we are aware,…
- In considering …
- In looking ahead and planning the work…
f) additions and appositions:
- What’s more/Further/ Furthermore/ Moreover/ Besides/ Also/ In addition to…
- Above all/ After all/ Indeed/ Actually/ Virtually/ Rather
- In these terms/ In other words,
- In fact/ That is/ Namely/ More correctly,
- In abbreviated form,……
- Roughly/ strictly speaking, ...
- In a way,…
- This means…
j) attitudes:
- Clearly/ Evidently/ Interestingly (enough)/ Fortunately/ Regrettably,
- To be sure/ Little wonder/ Surprisingly,
- Obviously/ Surely/ Understandably,
- In our opinion,
- Unfortunately,
- Regrettably,
15. Interrogating
Ex. 1 Find Russian equivalents and make up sentences of your own with the following phrases:
- Can we say…?
- What does it mean to say…?
- How can we begin to understand that…?
- We can frame the question as follows:
- There are some questions…:
- There are two crucial questions here…
- The question is whether …
16. Parameters and quantity intensifiers
Ex.1 Make up your own sentences using phrases expressing parameters and quantity intensifiers: multitude, cost, considerable, extensive, frequent, global, enormous, length, infinite, pressure, multiple, rate, size, speed, weight; measure, parameter, value, degree, extent, range, scope, numerous, voluminous, single, to cost, weigh, to measure, stabilize, underscore.
Ex. 2 You are going to write a brief summary of your scientific article to present it to your scientific supervisor. Ty to do your best to present it in an adequate form briefly and logically organized. Use connectors and link words as far as different speech patterns and rhetorical devices.