1.

Choosing expanded modal forms over contracted forms,

such as using cannot instead of can't, do not instead of
don't.
2. Choosing one verb form over two-word verbs, such as
damage instead of mess-up.
3. Choosing expanded terms over their abbreviated equivalent, such
as
as soon as possible instea of ASAP.
4. Avoiding colloquial/trite/idiomatic expressions, such as kind of like,
as a matter of fact, I need to go to the John.
1. Writing can't be done effectively if you don't burn the midnight oil.

To 'burn the midnight oil' is

to work late into the night.
Some correct answers:
1. Writing cannot be done effectively if you do
not put in the necessary effort.
2. Writing cannot be done effectively if you
do not study about it.
3. Writing cannot be done effectively if you
do not give all your time and effort in it.
2. Parenting is a 24/7 job.

• All the time without a break.

• Always available.
Some correct answers:

1. Parenting is a non-stop job.

2. Parenting is an endless job.
3. Parenting is a lifetime job.
3. Watching romcom gave the audience the feels.
The slang term
describes an
overwhelming emotional
reaction, often with a
humorous tone
Some correct answers:

1. Watching that romantic

comedy made the audience
emotional.
4. The class is cooking up something big.

To arrange or plan to
do something big like an
event or a surprise.
Some correct answers:

1. The class is preparing a grand

surprise.
2. The class is preparing a big surprise.
5. Adventure may mean doing something epic.

It means that something

is
awesome,great,unforget
table. But only when used
as slang.
Some correct answers:
1. Adventure may mean doing amazing things.

2. Adventure may define as an awesome

journey.

3. Adventure may define as going through an

exciting journey.
1. Senate set up the Meralco committee.
2. Mothers cut down spending on rice.
3. Oil price has gone up.
4. Students come up with a solution.
5. Students looked into the problem.
1. The school gets rid of tuition hike.
2. Parents turned down the proposal.
3. The proposal turned out a positive result.
4. The chemical gives off a foul odor.
5. Parents could not put away money for their
children's education.
1. Avoiding the use of personal pronouns such as you, I and we.
Poor example: You need to conduct the experiment.
Improved Version: The researchers need to conduct the
experiment.
2. Avoiding rhetorical questions as it marks “closeness” with the
reader, and constantly seeks his/her attention.
Poor example: How can these problems be solved?
Improved Version: Certain measures must be discovered to
solve the problems.
3. Avoiding emotive language that shows biases and lessens
objectivity.
Poor example: The investigators were very shocked to see the
outcome of the tests.
Improved Version: The investigators did not expect the results.
INSTRUCTION: Improve the text below by rewriting it into a more objective,
impersonal version.

I believe that incidence of drug overdose has indeed become prevalent

nowadays. When people are faced with difficult problems
It is apparent that the government hopes to provide
assistance to the poor. However, giving dole outs to
the “poorest of the poor” does not work in the long
term.

If you intend to show a change in your line of

argument, make it clear by using HOWEVER.
The following phrases may be useful in making ideas explicit:

A number of MERALCO consumers trooped to the City Hall to

claim a Php 500 cash incentive. This is due to the Supreme Court
ruling that overcharges must be returned to the end users whose
electric consumption for the April - May period was below
100kw/hr.

With the Supreme Court ordering MERALCO to return overcharges

to the end users, government offices have beem tapped to operate
as claim centers. This resulted in a number of MERALCO
consumers trooping to the City Hall to claim the Php 500 cash
incentive.
Improved Versions:

Some government officials may be corrupt. (Modal Verb)

Corruption is commonly linked to some key government officials.

(Adverb)

A number of government officials ten d to be linked with cases of

corruption (verb)
In academic writing, caution needs to be observed in the
following parts of your paper:

1. When a hypothesis needs to be tested.

2. Drawing conclusions or predictions from your findings that

may generalize certain matters or may not be conclusive.

3. Referencing others'work to build on your own paper.

Below are some forms that you may use in observing caution
in writing.

Verbs indicating caution: tends, suggests, appear to be, think,

believe, doubt, indicate

Example:

The findings of the survery suggests that students who use

the social networking in their academic working tend to be
more updated on recent developments in their respective
subjects.
Modal verbs: will, must, would, may, can, might could

Example:

The observation of students' use of social networking sites

may lead to the different behaviors that manifest in
real-life communication.

Modal Verbs are verbs that

expresses necessity or
probability.
Averbs of Frequency:

often, sometimes, usually

Example:

The essays that were given marks were usually high.

Since academic writing draws on previous writings done
related to your topic (in the case of research writing), it is
important that creating knowledge is expressed through
means that do not lead to sweeping generalizations that may
directly attack other writer's point of view.
If your results show something different from another
author's ideas, there are possible ways in writing these
points:

1. The results conradict Meyer's findings.

2. The results appear to be different from Meyer's findings.
Remember that in academic writing, since you are a part of a
community, it is important that you express ideas with
openness, striking a balance between being concise and
cautious. .
FOUR REASONS TO HEDGE
1. REDUCE THE RISK OF OPPOSITION.
2. WAYS OF BEING MORE PRECISE IN REPORTING
RESULTS.
3. POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE POLITENESS STRATEGIES
4. ESTABLISHED WRITING STYLE IN ENGLISH.
LANGUAGE USED IN HEDGING

1. INTRODUCTORY VERBS - commonly used in speeches

e.g; seem, tend, look like, appear to be, think, believe,
doubt, be sure, indicate, suggest

2. LEXICAL VERBS - Lexical verbs are the main verbs (or

action words) in a sentence. They can show the subject's
action or express a state of being.
e.g; believe, assume, suggest
LANGUAGE USED IN HEDGING
3. MODAL VERB - an auxiliary verb that expresses necessity or
possibility.
e.g; will, must, would, may, might, could

4. ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY - Adverbs of frequency are often used to

indicate routine or repeated activities.
e.g: often, sometimes, usually

5. MODAL ADVERBS -are often added to modal verbs to add to their

meaning.
e.g: certainly, definitely, clearly, probably, possibly, perhaps, c
conceivably,
LANGUAGE USED IN HEDGING
6. MODAL ADJECTIVES - An adjective that expresses likelihood.
e.g: certain, definite, clear, probable, possible

7. MODAL NOUN - a verb such as can, may, or will that is used with
another verb (not a modal) to express possibility, permission,
intention, etc.
e.g: assumption, possibility, probability

8. THAT CLAUSES -
e.g: It could be the case that .
It might be suggested that .
There is every hope that .
LANGUAGE USED IN HEDGING

9. TO-CLAUSE + ADJECTIVE -

e.g. It may be possible to obtain .

It is important to develop .
It is useful to study .
 PRACTICE . . . PRACTICE . . . PRACTICE . . .

The following sentences are overly assertive and may attract criticism if
the evidence presented does not match the same strength as the claim.
In your own writing make sure that your hedging language is in
proportion to the evidence you give. Rewrite each sentence by
incorporating the hedging language in brackets to soften the claims. You
may need to change other words too and also the form of the words in
the brackets. Check your answer after each one to see how you are
doing.
 PRACTICE . . . PRACTICE . . . PRACTICE . . .

1. When the King Thailand dies, the people of Thailand will be deeply
saddened. (many, likely)

2. If the dinosaurs were still roaming the Earth today, the human race
would not exist. (extremely, unlikely)

3. The level of English in Hong Kong has been getting worse and worse
since the handover in 1998. (argue)

4. Working through this set of activities will enhance your ability to use
hedging in your academic writing. (should)
 PRACTICE . . . PRACTICE . . . PRACTICE . . .

5. The lack of concrete initiatives to solve the pollution problem in

Hong Kong is a clear indication that the Government does not take
pollution seriously. (apparent, seem, suggest)

6. Students are starting to suffer from neck problems because they

spend so much of their time at the computer. (seem, reasonable,
assume, some)

7. People between the ages of 30 – 40 sleep 7 hours a night, whereas

those over 65 sleep 6 hours a night. (research, carry out, recently, in
Hong Kong, reveal, often, generally)
 ASSIGNMENT:

WRITE SENTENCES. . .

INSTRUCTION: Write complete sentences with these words and

collocations.

1. It is usually true that ...

2. It is possible that ...
3. The majority of ...
4. ... sort of ...
5. Generally,
6. About
In combining ideas effectively, you will need to avoid redundancy and at
the same time, make sure that ideas are packed effectively.

Consider the following examples:

The earthquake caused loss of life.

The earthquake caused massive property damage.
The earthquake changed the landscape of the village.

Though these sentences are gramatically correct, they do not possess

the sophistication of academic writing. They can be improved by
continuing similar ideas expressing them through a more complex
construction. Hence, they can be rewritten this way:
“The earthquake was a disaster that
caused loss of life, property damage,
and permanent changes in the
landscape”
In nominalization, the verbs are made central as they
denote action. Transforming verbs into nouns helps
readers focus on the action and not on the doer of
the action.
Examples:

“The company of software to manage the

transactions successsfully.“

“The President announced a three-day holiday this

September”

“The mall distributed several free items to

consumers ”
In passive construction, the results of actions are
highlighted. In academic writing, since the writer of
the paper is presumed to have done the collection
and analysis of data, it is understood that all results
of the action are a product of a writer's work.
Examples:

“The researcher conducted the experiment to

validate the hypothesis“

“An engineer built a saltwater lamp to help

communities with no electricity”

“Several scientists conducted experiment to examine

the effects of galgae on biodiversity ”