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Literature Surveys: Vocabulary

You can use a general noun  such as ‘aspect’ or ‘approach’ to refer back to an idea you have mentioned previously. 

Here are some examples of general nouns from different disciplines. Click on Instructions for more information about the format.

General nouns Examples
General nouns followed by a clause (to, when, that, why, which) Examples

Reporting is common in Literature Surveys. Here are some examples of reporting.

Reporting verbs Examples

The tasks below will give you practice with some of these word groups.


If you are writing a Literature Survey, you might also find this language useful:

Task 1

You can use a general noun  such as ‘aspect’ or ‘approach’ to refer back to an idea you have mentioned previously. Select the right general noun to fill each of these gaps.

Exercise

Task 2

You can use a general noun  such as ‘aspect’ or ‘approach’ to refer back to an idea you have mentioned previously. Match the sentences on the left with the sentences that follow them.

Exercise

Task 3

General nouns such as ‘approach’ or ‘fact’ can be used to refer to an idea that you have already mentioned, or that you are going to mention. They are often followed by clauses. Select the right general noun to fill each of these gaps.

Exercise

Task 4

You can use a general noun  such as ‘aspect’ or ‘approach’ with a clause to refer back to an idea you have mentioned previously or something you intend to say. Match the sentences on the left with the clauses that follow them.

Exercise

Task 5

Literature Surveys report the work of other people. Look at the reporting verb used in the following sentences and put the words in the correct order.

Exercise

Task 6

We use a number of different verbs to report what other researchers have said. Typically these verbs can be followed by ‘that’, as in the following example:


Elson (1994: 152) argues that such policies are unfair.


Which of the following verbs could not be used instead of ‘argues’ to fill the gap in the example?

Exercise

Task 7

You can report people that you agree with and you can report people that you disagree with. You can show your agreement or disagreement by the reporting verb you use. Group the following verbs according to whether they show agreement with the claim in the original source or not.

Exercise

Comments

hayaalqasem's picture hayaalqasem replied on Palestinian Territories

Could any one in learn English team ask my question Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?
I think there is mistake in task seven.
The two columns of verbs should be exchanged
I think these verbs are used when I don't to show that I agree or disagree with the people for example:note,point out,demonstrate etc.
and these verbs I used when I want to show that I agree or disagree with people
for example: assert,believe,claim,argue etc.
Pleaseeeeeeeeeees answer my question

HilaryWfaP's picture HilaryWfaP replied on United Kingdom (Great Britain)

Hi
We use verbs like 'note', 'point out', 'demonstrate' etc when we think that the writer has made a valid point. So we might say 'Smith (2010) points out that the earth is round' because this is something we all know, and that Smith is just reminding us about, or we might say 'Brown and Jones (2011) demonstrate that a spider's web is stronger than steel', because they have conducted an experiment that proves this.
If we are not sure that the writer is correct, verbs like 'assert', 'believe', 'claim, 'argue' etc. signal that we are distancing ourselves from what the writer claims. For example we might say 'Smith (2010) believes that children learn vocabulary best by memorising word lists, but Brown and Jones (2011) argue that this is not an effective way to learn vocabulary'.
I hope this helps!
Hilary
The Writing for a Purpose Team

hayaalqasem's picture hayaalqasem replied on Palestinian Territories

thank you Hilary