Common Phrases

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Common Phrases

  • Mainly in Data analysis/Findings and Results, and Discussion
  • Making comparisons:
X is smaller/more/greater/larger than Y
In contrast to
Similar to …
… between X and Y
  • Presenting calculations:
X is equal to Y
The sum of X
X is more/less correlated to Y
  • Explaining the results and showing evidence:
It is highly possible that …
One possible reason is …
There is no (evidence showing) …
  • In all sections
  • Referring to figures and previous scholarly studies:
According to [AUTHOR (YEAR)]/Figure/Table N
According to Figure N
As shown in Table/Figure N
  • Listing related points:
On the one/other hand
It can be seen from/It can be clearly seen that …
In this case/the study/the discussion …
  • Mainly in Discussion and Conclusion
  • Making a conclusion:
It is concluded/noticed/recommended that…
In conclusion …
  • Making more personal comments:
It is difficult/better/interesting (for us) to (find that)…
We would like to explore…

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This website has been developed as part of the UGC funded project, "Supporting and developing students’ English literacy practices in the disciplines” which is funded by the University Grants Committee’s Competitive Funding Scheme on Teaching and Learning for the 2012-2015 triennium. This inter-institutional literacy project aims to examine the provision of English literacy across three broad disciplines in Hong Kong tertiary institutes, namely Social Science, Science and Engineering in the participating institutions that include the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, City University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Baptist University. The website consists of a comprehensive support system to help provide a stimulating learning environment for students, content and language teachers. It also aims to help teachers become conversant with disciplinary genres and the linguistic and pedagogical resources suitable in a second language learning environment. The resources on this website will be open to and shared by all tertiary institutions in Hong Kong and beyond.