Organization of a paper:
Signposting and punctuation
Reference: Swales, J. & Feak, C. 1994. Academic
Writing for Graduate Students. The University of
Michigan Press: Ann Arbor.
We’ve been talking about flow…
• Language of academic papers  vocabulary
shift
• Organizing information in a paper 
paragraphs and sentences
• Now, to establish a clear connection of ideas…
• Use linking words and phrases as well as
punctuation
Part 1: Linking words and phrases :
• Can help maintain flow and establish clear
relationships between ideas
• Can be arranged according to their function
and grammatical use
This (these)+ summary word
• ESL lecturers know that students need to
understand the differences between formal
and informal language. However, this
understanding cannot usually be aquired
quickly.
• Refers to the previous phrase (givennew)
Part 2: Punctuation
• Sentence connectors raise the important issue
of punctuation
• You have to learn the proper use of
punctuation in English and in your field
• We only deal with some punctuation, namely
comma (,), semicolon (;), colon (:) and dash(-)
Semicolon
• Join two completely independent sentences
• Work much like a full stop (period)
– Air traffic delays due to high traffic volume have increased considerably over
the last decade; these delays have become a major public policy issue.
• Can be used with sentence connectors
– Increasing the size of airports is one solution to traffic congestion; however,
this is a long-term solution whose benefits may not be seen for many years
into the future.
Semicolon
• Can be used to separate rather long items in
list:
– Some of the solutions to the air traffic delay
problem include increasing the size of airports
that routinely experiece flight delays; overhauling
the air traffic control system so that more flights
can be safely handled; and increasing landing fees.
•
Note that usually you separate items in a list
with a comma
Colon and Comma
•
•
•
•
Weaker stops
Comma (,) separates items in a list
Colon (:) introduces a list
Commas used with conjunctions (and, but, or) and subordinators
(although, if, whereas)
– There are four main causes of airport congestion: bad weather, excessive
volume, runway closures, and equipment outages.
Dash
• Sometimes a dash is used to introduce a list
• Mostly, though, dash is used to intrude
additional information to a sentence, much
like brackets ().
– There are four main causes of airport congestion:
bad weather – such as a snowstorm – may ground
planes…
Print out this slide and
add the punctuation as
instructed.
Print out this slide. Use linking words and phrases to fill in the gaps
below.
…and finally
• For more information on how to use
punctuation with quotations, please go to the
following website:
• http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/
quotes.asp