Prepositions and Determiners in Academic Writing
A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS
Grammar words in academic essays, papers and reports review, starting with a guessing game.
Lesson Plan Content:
Academic Writing prepositions and determiners pairwork guessing game
Instructions
Choose one of the sections on your worksheet and read out phrases from there one by one with the word in bold missing (saying “blank”, “beep”, “lalala” etc for that part and “dot dot dot” if the sentence has “…”). Continue reading out phrases from one section until your partner guesses the word which is missing from all those phrases. They can only guess once per hint, but you can repeat the previous clues if they ask you to. If they still can’t guess after you have used all of the hints in one section, make up your own ideas for example phrases with the same word missing. If you don’t use all of the examples in one section, you can go back to the same section later if you want to.
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Useful language for playing the game “That’s not correct. I’ll give you another hint” “I’m not sure. Can you give me another hint?” “Can you repeat that hint?” “Can you repeat the other hints?” |
Ask about any sentences which you don’t understand, think could take different words, etc, then swap worksheets and do the same guessing game.
Determiners and prepositions grammar presentation
After you finish the game, find words on the worksheets below that match these definitions. The same word can sometimes go in more than one place below. Not all of the words are used.
Prepositions
= the opposite of “to”
= used with days and dates
= a point in time or space
= somewhere within a place or time
= used after passive (after “is made” etc)
= the difference (“increased ___ 35%” etc)
= the opposite of “against”
= used after an amount to talk about a specific group of people, things etc (like “a few ___ them” and “a number ___ us”)
= used to compare two things
= used before the infinitive of a verb (“be” etc)
Articles/ Determiners
= one (of the available things)
= one unique thing
= a thing mentioned before
= used before an amount (like “few”, “couple” and “lot”)
= used before “this”, “next” and “last”, and similar phrases like “today”, “tomorrow” and “yesterday”
Suggested answers
Prepositions
from = the opposite of “to”
on = used with days and dates
at = a point in time or space
in = somewhere within a place or time
by = used after passive (after “is made” etc)
by = the difference (“increased ___ 35%” etc)
for = the opposite of “against”
of = used after an amount to talk about a specific group of people, things etc (like “a few ___ them” and “a number ___ us”)
than = used to compare two things
to = used before the infinitive of a verb (“be” etc)
Articles/ Determiners
a/ an = one (of the available things).
the = one unique thing
the = a thing mentioned before
a/ an = used before an amount (like “few”, “couple” and “lot”)
- = used before “this”, “next” and “last”, and similar phrases like “today”, “tomorrow” and “yesterday”
Further practice
After doing the brainstorming task below, test each other on the phrases section by section:
- read out phrases in one section with the words in bold missing (this time meaning with a range of different words missing)
- read out the heading of one section and help your partner make suitable phrases (helping with key words, gapped sentences, etc)
Student A
Hope you had a good trip to Singapore. .
I have attached a copy of the paper.
I have a question about the homework which you set in the lesson on Wednesday.
Have a good weekend.
It is a common view in many countries that…
There has been a lot of controversy about the topic of…
There is a widespread belief that…
A potential negative consequence is…
A significantly more important drawback could be…
A striking similarity between the two data sets is…
There is a substantial difference between the short and long term future prospects of…
A small minority of people claimed that…
As a general rule,…
A good primary source on this topic is…
This provides a totally new point of view on…
There is an absolutely tiny difference in responses if we look at…
To give an example, you could write about scholarships and other awards.
There is an assumption among many politicians that…
Any assistance you could give me in this matter would be gratefully accepted.
If you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Any feedback you can give me on this would be gratefully accepted.
As requested, here is the second draft of my dissertation with more…
As we discussed, I am sending an outline of…
The two approaches are almost the same as each other.
There are many instances of this, such as...
As has been shown above,…
The main points above can be summarised as…
Having looked at both sides of the argument,…
It was a pleasure to finally meet you face to face at the symposium.
It was so nice to see you again at the IATEFL chapter meeting last month.
This paper will look at the plus points and then turn its attention to…
However, opposition parties argue against the government’s policy by quoting…
The greatest selling point by far of involving the private sector is…
This is caused by feelings of social isolation.
This factor was the biggest by a substantial margin.
I will give three reasons for this in the paragraphs below.
As has been shown above, there are arguments both for and against…
For all the reasons given above, the conclusion must be that…
The chief benefit for participants seems to be…
There are several examples of this in Tokyo. For instance,…
The main reason for this is that it looks like “padding” your biography.
The main justification for this is…
If these results are repeated elsewhere, this could have huge implications for…
Turning from the positive aspects to the more major negative ones,…
This essay takes most of its data from Smith (1973).
I look forward to hearing from you.
The text in red is my changes since the first draft.
Thanks in advance.
In many developing countries…
In modern society,…
I believe that in general this approach has a lot of merit.
I will give some examples of situations in which this policy should have mainly positive consequences, and then…
I will look at both sides and then give my own view in my conclusion.
I will look at the past, present and future, in that order.
In the paragraphs below I will look at both sides of the argument in turn, then I will…
I believe that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages in most cases.
In the future, it will be necessary for NGOs to…
In other words,…
In brief,…
In the overwhelming majority of cases, voters respond to this by…
According to the vast majority of experts in the field,…
Greene’s ideas were set out in her book How Animals Think.
(as cited in Harris, 2001)
In his seminal work, Smith claims that…
I am writing to you in order to…
Student B
Although I can understand both points of view, I am quite a strong supporter of this idea in the majority of cases.
Practical implications of this research include the need for…
Because of this, in the future researchers should…
Sorry to write out of the blue, but…
One of the main advantages of this is…
The biggest benefit of this course of action is…
The majority of participants reported that…
A considerable body of literature exists on the effects of…
A major effect of this could be…
Short term consequences of this policy could include…
The conclusions should be of interest to anyone in the fields of…
Readers of this journal…
Moving onto the good points of this method,…
The most widely recognised authority on this matter is W.H.Brown, who says…
This paper draws primarily on the work of Hatton (2008).
Thank you for the class on Monday. I really think I am beginning to understand the topic now.
Thanks for your feedback on my first draft.
See you on Friday.
There are two strongly contrasting points of view on the topic of…
In my own opinion, this depends on the situation of the country in question.
The research also touches on the fields of…
For most countries, there are far more pros than cons.
The final figure is a great deal higher than earlier data had suggested.
For people growing up nowadays,…
To sum up the data given above,…
Would you mind sending me a copy of the materials so I can catch up?
I agree with Smith (1989, 89) when he says that…
I am writing to you in connection with your workshop next week.
This paper begins with a review of the recent literature on the topic.
Perhaps a majority of young people in the world have to deal with the issue of…
Thanks for your help with the second draft of my paper.
I am writing to you with regards to…
In the attached essay I have examined…
I’m sending you the final draft of my paper on…
Could you possibly check if I’ve done the right thing?
All the best
Over the last few decades, rural communities have had to cope with…
The arguments above can be summarised as…
To attempt to paraphrase the whole paper,…
Despite all the advantages mentioned above,…
Despite the disadvantages given in the previous paragraph,…
The most significant selling point is…
The most obvious difference between the two methods is…
The only difference between the two lines is…
Perhaps the best example of this is…
The second advantage of changing Chinese trade policy is…
The author of this paper found that…
People reading this paper may find that…
This study lays out arguments for…
This paper sets out three reasons for…
There is also a lot of resistance to this idea.
The two concepts are practically identical to each other.
To put that another way,…
…, that is to say…
According to Chase’s seminal paper on the topic,…
He claimed rather unconvincingly to have proved that…
This essay makes extensive reference to the works of…
This can lead to several consequences.
I will then use the data to come to a conclusion on how welcome this might be.
In this essay I will attempt to evaluate both sides of the argument.
To summarize the views given above,…
We therefore have no choice but to conclude that…
Most – people find that…
Please find – this week's homework attached.
Could you please let me know the homework that was set – yesterday?
In – today’s globalised world,…
– These days there are many issues with…
I will discuss – both points of view below.
We therefore recommend that – all governments should…
Brainstorming stage
First of all without looking above, write suitable phrases in each section below.
Academic emails
Opening lines of academic emails
Opening line mentioning the last contact between you
Opening line with the topic of the email
Social opening lines/ Friendly opening lines
Body of academic emails
Sending documents/ Sending attachments
Requests and enquiries
Closing academic emails
Closing lines in academic emails
Closing greeting in emails
Introductions to academic writing
Explaining the background/ relevance/ importance to the topic/ writing
Giving your opinion
Outlining the structure of the writing
Finishing academic writing
Summarising (the whole paper)
Conclusion(s)
Implications of your conclusion(s)
The body of academic writing
Avoiding personal pronouns
Supporting your arguments
Advantages and disadvantages/ Looking at both sides
Comparing/ Contrasting
Explaining further/ Restating/ Rephrasing
Hedging/ Generalising/ Making general statements
Quoting people/ Describing other people’s experience and opinions/ Giving sources of information
Giving examples
Logical arguments (reasons, causes, consequences, etc)
Look above for ideas, then brainstorm more.
Suggested answers
Opening lines of academic emails
Opening line mentioning the last contact between you
It was a pleasure to finally meet you face to face at the symposium.
It was so nice to see you again at the IATEFL chapter meeting last month.
Thank you for the class on Monday. I really think I am beginning to understand the topic now.
Thanks for your feedback on my first draft.
Thanks for your help with the second draft of my paper.
Opening line with the topic of the email
I am writing to you in connection with your workshop next week.
Sorry to write out of the blue, but…
I am writing to you with regards to…
I am writing to you in order to…
Social opening lines/ Friendly opening lines
Hope you had a good trip to Singapore. .
Body of academic emails
Sending documents/ Sending attachments
As requested, here is the second draft of my dissertation with more…
I have attached a copy of the paper.
Please find – last week's homework attached.
The text in red is my changes since the first draft.
In the attached essay I have examined…
As we discussed, I am sending an outline of…
I’m sending you the final draft of my paper on…
Requests and enquiries
Would you mind sending me a copy of the materials so I can catch up?
I have a question about the homework which you set in the lesson on Wednesday.
Could you possibly check if I’ve done the right thing?
Could you please let me know the homework for – this week?
Closing academic emails
Closing lines in academic emails
Any assistance you could give me in this matter would be gratefully accepted.
If you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks in advance.
See you on Friday.
Any feedback you can give me on this would be gratefully accepted.
Have a good weekend.
Closing greeting in emails
All the best
Introductions to academic writing
Explaining the background/ relevance/ importance to the topic/ writing
For people growing up nowadays,…
In many developing countries…
In modern society,…
In – today’s globalised world,…
It is a common view in many countries that…
Over the last few decades, rural communities have had to cope with…
Perhaps a majority of young people in the world have to deal with the issue of…
There are two strongly contrasting points of view on the topic of…
There has been a lot of controversy about the topic of…
There is a widespread belief that…
There is an assumption among many politicians that…
– These days there are many issues with…
If these results are repeated elsewhere, this could have huge implications for…
This provides a totally new point of view on…
The conclusions should be of interest to anyone in the fields of…
The research also touches on the fields of…
Giving your opinion
Although I can understand both points of view, I am quite a strong supporter of this idea in the majority of cases.
I believe that in general this approach has a lot of merit.
In my own opinion, this depends on the situation of the country in question.
Outlining the structure of the writing
I will discuss – both points of view below.
I will give some examples of situations in which this policy should have mainly positive consequences, and then…
I will give three reasons for this in the paragraphs below.
I will look at both sides and then give my own view in my conclusion.
I will look at the past, present and future, in that order.
I will then use the data to come to a conclusion on how welcome this might be.
In the paragraphs below I will look at both sides of the argument in turn, then I will…
In this essay I will attempt to evaluate both sides of the argument.
This paper begins with a review of the recent literature on the topic.
This paper will look at the plus points and then turn its attention to…
Finishing academic writing
Summarising (the whole paper)
As has been shown above, there are arguments both for and against…
The arguments above can be summarised as…
To attempt to paraphrase the whole paper,…
To sum up the data given above,…
To summarize the views given above,…
As has been shown above,…
The main points above can be summarised as…
Conclusion(s)
Despite all the advantages mentioned above,…
Despite the disadvantages given in the previous paragraph,…
For all the reasons given above, the conclusion must be that…
For most countries, there are far more pros than cons.
Having looked at both sides of the argument,…
I believe that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages in most cases.
We therefore have no choice but to conclude that…
Implications of your conclusion(s)
Practical implications of this research include the need for…
Because of this, in the future researchers should…
We therefore recommend that – governments should…
In the future, it will be necessary for NGOs to…
The body of academic writing
Avoiding personal pronouns
Readers of this journal…
People reading this paper may find that…
The author of this paper found that…
This study lays out arguments for…
This paper sets out three reasons for…
Supporting your arguments
Advantages and disadvantages/ Looking at both sides
A potential negative consequence is…
A significantly more important drawback could be…
However, opposition parties argue against the government’s policy by quoting…
One of the main advantages of this is…
The biggest benefit of this course of action is…
The greatest selling point by far of involving the private sector is…
The chief benefit for participants seems to be…
The most significant selling point is…
There is also a lot of resistance to this idea.
Turning from the positive aspects to the more major negative ones,…
Moving onto the good points of this method,…
The second advantage of changing Chinese trade policy is…
Comparing/ Contrasting
A striking similarity between the two data sets is…
The final figure is a great deal higher than earlier data had suggested.
The most obvious difference between the two methods is…
The only difference between the two lines is…
The two approaches are almost the same as each other.
The two concepts are practically identical to each other.
There is a substantial difference between the short and long term future prospects of…
There is an absolutely tiny difference in responses if we look at…
This factor was the biggest by a substantial margin.
Explaining further/ Restating/ Rephrasing
In other words,…
In brief,…
To put that another way,…
…, that is to say…
Hedging/ Generalising/ Making general statements
A small minority of people claimed that…
As a general rule,…
In the overwhelming majority of cases, voters respond to this by…
Most – people find that…
The majority of participants reported that…
Quoting people/ Describing other people’s experience and opinions/ Giving sources of information
A considerable body of literature exists on the effects of…
A good primary source on this topic is…
According to Chase’s seminal paper on the topic,…
According to the vast majority of experts in the field,…
Greene’s ideas were set out in her book How Animals Think.
He claimed rather unconvincingly to have proved that…
The most widely recognised authority on this matter is W.H.Brown, who says…
This essay makes extensive reference to the works of…
This essay takes most of its data from Smith (1973).
This work draws primarily on the work of Hatton (2008).
I agree with Smith (1989, 89) when he says that…
(as cited in Harris, 2001)
In his seminal work, Smith claims that…
Giving examples
To give an example, you could write about scholarships and other awards.
There are several examples of this in Tokyo. For instance,…
There are many instances of this, such as...
Perhaps the best example of this is…
Logical arguments (reasons, causes, consequences, etc)
A major effect of this could be…
Short term consequences of this policy could include…
The main justification for this is…
The main reason for this is that it looks like “padding” your biography.
This can lead to several consequences.
This is caused by feelings of social isolation.
As a result,…
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