Verb tense in academic writing - Current Students

Learning Skills Verb tense in academic writing

Overview of this workshop

2 COPYRIGHT © LEARNING & TEACHING CENTRE I LEARNING SKILLS GROUP 2015

This module will focus on: •  English verb tenses •  Verb tense shift •  Voice (active, passive) •  Verb tense use for different functions

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What is a verb? a word used to describe an action, state or occurrence Examples: read, work is, exist happen, become

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What is a verb tense? Use of a verb form: •  to locate a situation in time •  to indicate when the situation takes place

What’s wrong?

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He conducts an important study in 2001 on the effects of habitat loss on population size. The essay is discussing the two options and their effect on stakeholders. Many investors will be happy after they received their bonus interest.

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I write I am writing I have written I wrote I was writing I had written I will write

Talk to someone: What are the differences in the sense of 5me in each of these verb tenses?

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I write every day.* I am writing at this moment. I have written many times. * I wrote yesterday.* I was writing when he came. I had written before he came. I will write today/tomorrow. *

Present Simple (I write…)*

8 h9p://www.une.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/10597/WC_Grammar-‐Verb-‐tense.pdf h9p://wri5ngcenter.waldenu.edu/Documents/GrammarandELL/Verb_Tenses.doc

•  General truths She does not like Thai food. This study demonstrates the influence of…

Good study strategies are very useful for students. •  Ac.ons or events that repeats or reoccurs

I usually have lunch at noon. I write emails almost every day.

Present Continuous (I am writing…)

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•  Ac.ons, events, or condi.ons happening currently I am wri0ng at this moment. He is doing a Master Degree at the university

•  Ac.ons or events that you’ve planned which will happen in the near future

He is experimen0ng with it next week. We are going (We’re going) there next month.

Learning Skills Resource: StudyWISE h9p://wri5ngcenter.waldenu.edu/Documents/GrammarandELL/Verb_Tenses.doc

Present Perfect (I have written…)

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•  Ac.ons or events that started in the past and con.nues into

the present He has been (He’s been) awake since 6 o’clock. Scien5sts have not yet discovered the cause for the disease

•  Ac.ons or events that refer to past experience that occurred at an unspecified .me

I’ve been to China. Have you ever eaten lobster before?


Past Simple (I wrote…)*

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•  Ac.ons or events that happened at a specific .me in the past

We went to the cinema last night. World War II ended in 1945. Zimbardo published many studies on social psychology.

Past Continuous (I was writing…)

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•  Ac.ons or events that con$nued before another ac.on in the past.

I was watching TV when you called. While he was driving, he realised he forgot his wallet at home

Learning Skills Resource: StudyWISE h9ps://learnenglish.bri5shcouncil.org/en/english-‐grammar/verbs/past-‐tense/past-‐con5nuous

Past Perfect (I had written…)

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•  Ac.ons or events that finished before and a?er another ac.on in the past.

He knew the research so well because he had studied it so

many 5mes. The mee5ng had already started by the 5me I arrived.

Learning Skills Resource: StudyWISE h9p://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/pastperfect.html

Future Simple (I will write…)*

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•  Ac.ons or events that will take place in the future

The lecturer will give out the assignment (later) today. He will complete the research study next week.

Learning Skills Resource: StudyWISE

What’s wrong?

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He conducts an important study in 2001 on the effects of habitat loss on population size. The essay is discussing the two options and their effect on stakeholders. Many investors will be happy when they received their bonus interest.

Correct

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He conducted an important study in 2001 on the effects of habitat loss on population size. The essay discusses the two options and their effect on stakeholders. Many investors will be happy when they receive their bonus interest.

What’s the difference?

http://www.iup.edu/page.aspx?id=6200917

Shakespeare uses many risqué puns in his plays. In one scene, he disguises sexual references as sword-fighting terms. Shakespeare used many risqué puns in his plays. In one scene, he disguised sexual references as sword-fighting terms.

Verb Tense Shift

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The parts of a sentence or paragraph must relate logically in verb tense. Do not change the verb tense within a sentence or a paragraph without good reason or logic.

h9p://wri5ngcenter.waldenu.edu/Documents/GrammarandELL/Verb_Tenses.doc h9ps://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/601/04/

Is this correct?

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Although it was only a four-hour ride from my home in Pennsylvania to my boyfriend’s home in Virginia, I was terrified. I think my feelings may have been influenced by stereotypes of the Old South. This sentence is correct! The reason for this tense change is that I am thinking now— in the present time.

h9p://www.iup.edu/page.aspx?id=62009

Can you spot any problems?

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Various factors combine to make a good public speaker. Above all, the speaker knows her subject and believes that her remarks are important. Second, the good speaker was articulate. This did not mean resorting to pompous language, for inflated diction made one appear conceited. Third, the good speaker will recognize the value of brevity. Many an audience will be lost as the speaker glories in the supposed euphony of her prose.

h9p://hawaii.hawaii.edu/tlc/wwwwri5ng/Recognizing%20Verb%20Tense%20Shia%20Errors.html

Correct Paragraph

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Various factors combine to make a good public speaker. Above all, the speaker knows her subject and believes that her remarks are important. Second, the good speaker is articulate. This does not mean resorting to pompous language, for inflated diction makes one appear conceited. Third, the good speaker recognizes the value of brevity. Many an audience will be lost as the speaker glories in the supposed euphony of her prose.

h9p://hawaii.hawaii.edu/tlc/wwwwri5ng/Recognizing%20Verb%20Tense%20Shia%20Errors.html

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Are these two sentences correct? a. This essay will be discussed two possible options that government policy makers can select. b. Security measures must develop to prevent further occurrence of spying.

Passive Voice: Forms

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Passive Voice: Usage

“Use the passive voice in academic writing.” Do you agree? When should we use the passive voice?

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Passive Voice: Usage 1 When the person or thing doing the action (the agent) is obvious, unknown or unimportant. a.  Two cars were stolen on the street in my district. b.  This chair was made in China. c. Tobacco is grown in the South.

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Passive Voice: Usage 2 To emphasize the result of an action The virus strains that are most likely to cause disease are identified and three are selected for vaccine development.

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Passive Voice: Usage 3 To describe a process The virus strains mostly likely to cause disease are identified and three are selected for vaccine development. First, the virus samples of each selected strains are injected into separate batches of fertilizes eggs to amplify the amount of virus. Then, each virus strain is grown separately inside the eggs over the course of several days, after which it is harvested, inactivated, and purified. Finally, the purified virus strains are then combined to create the vaccine. (Adapted from Swales and Feak, 2012)

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Can we use the active voice for this paragraph? The virus strains mostly likely to cause disease are identified and three are selected for vaccine development. First, Technician 1 injects virus samples of each selected strains into separate batches of fertilizes eggs to amplify the amount of virus. Then, Technician 2 grows each virus strain separately inside the eggs over the course of several days, after which the technician harvests, inactivates, and purifies it. Finally, Technician 3 combines the purified virus strains to create the vaccine. Note: when different agents are an important part of different steps in the process

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1. Inject virus samples of each selected strains into separate batches of fertilizes eggs to amplify the amount of virus.

2. Grow each virus strain separately inside the eggs over the course of several days. 3. Harvest, inactivate, and purify the virus strains. 4. Combine the purified virus strains to create the vaccine. Note: If your purpose of writing is to offer instructions, use the imperative form.

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BUT… do not overuse it because it makes your ideas • less clear • less interesting

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Passive voice can keep the focus on the process > the agent be used to show the procedures of an experiment/research method in science, psychology, human sciences, social sciences

Different Functions of Verb Tense

h9p://www.adelaide.edu.au/english-‐for-‐uni/passive-‐voice/

Can you identify the function of the verb tense? a. Genomics provides crucial information for rational drug.

b. Figure 2 below shows the sales of luxury cars in the last ten years in Australia. c. Graphs 2.1 and 2.2 are representations of the elongation of the radicle and stem of treated and untreated /H2) oat seeds. In both cases, the stem does not appear to emerge at all and the treated stem and radicles seem to grow longer and faster.

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d. Table 1.3 shows the changes of treated and untreated wheat that occurred during the last 7 days of the experiment. The stems and radicles of most treated and untreated/H2O wheat and barley seeds continued to elongate. A stem emerged only from one of the treated oat seeds, the same one that had a radicle emerging several days ago. All the rest of the treated and untreated/H20 oats seeds remained dormant. e. Results indicated that prolonged exposure to ultra-violet radiation had a positive correlation with the development of melanomas.

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f. I saw many things about this junior high school that I found to be positive aspects. There were many new, young and enthusiastic teachers. Language arts and reading were taught in a block schedule. I observed Miss Anderson, a language arts and reading teacher. She has three classes for two periods each. I had never seen this type of scheduling before and found it to have many positive aspects. For example, reading and writing greatly overlap: it is good for transfer and teaching across the curriculum to have them taught in a block schedule.

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f. I saw many things about this junior high school that I found to be positive aspects. There were many new, young and enthusiastic teachers. Language arts and reading were taught in a block schedule. I observed Miss Anderson, a language arts and reading teacher. She has three classes for two periods each. I had never seen this type of scheduling before and found it to have many positive aspects. For example, reading and writing greatly overlap: it is good for transfer and teaching across the curriculum to have them taught in a block schedule.

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g. Jackson (2005) states that it is likely that the use of technology in learning and teaching will continue to play an important role in university education. h. We found that drug A effectively inhibited cancer cell proliferation, indicating that drug A is a promising candidate for use in future cancer treatment strategies. i. The causes of illiteracy have been widely investigated (Ferrara, 2000; Hyon, 2004; Jones 1997).

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Sources of Example Sentences http://services.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/471294/Using_tenses_in_ scientific_writing_Update_051112.pdf http://www.biosciencewriters.com/Top-10-Basic-Errors-BioScience-Writers-Corrects-in- Scientific-Manuscripts.aspx Mulvaney, M. K. and Jolliffe, D. A. (2005). Academic writing: Genres, samples and resources.

New York: Pearson. Swales, J.M., & Feak, C.B. (2012). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential

tasks and skills (3rded.). Michigan: University of Michigan Press.

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