CAP 3 Worksheet
Many of the Language Focus sections of AWG provide specific ideas that will help you analyze the language choices in your CAP
3 article:
Verb tenses:
 See p. 365, “Purpose statements & tense”
 See p. 344, “Citation & tense”
Hedges/boosters
 See pp. 156-157, “An introduction to qualifications and strength of claim”
 See pp. 159-163, “Specific ways of moderating or qualifying a claim”
Evaluative language
 See p. 242, “Evaluative language”
 See p. 262-264, “Evaluative language revisited”
Data commentaries: location statements
 See pp. 149-151, “Verbs in indicative and informative location statements”
 See p. 152, “Linking as clauses”
CAP 3 Worksheet Example
Paper section
Introduction
Does the writer use
I/we? If so, for what
purpose?
What 2-3 verb tenses are
most common? What
does the writer typically
do with each tense?
Yes—the writer frequently uses “I”, especially when she describes her theoretical orientation and
assumptions (e.g. “I view academic discourse socialization primarily as…; I understand that culture…; I
assume that…”)
Present tense: to describe her beliefs (e.g. when she uses “I”; to make claims about the implications of her
study (e.g. “The present study contributes to this current line of research by…”; “this study
demonstrates…”); to describe the current state of knowledge (e.g. “A growing body of research
concerns…”) or general descriptions of theoretical positions (e.g. “These frameworks also recognize the
importance of…”)
Past tense: to indicate the results of specific a specific study (e.g. Kota was highly motivated and had a
fairly extensive academic background…”
Which is more
common—active or
passive voice? When
does the writer use the
passive voice?
Does the author use any
boosters, hedges, attitude
markers, or evaluative
language that contribute
to author positioning?
What is the effect of these
devices?
Anything else to note
about the language in this
section?
Present perfect: to indicate the results of general areas of inquiry (e.g. “an emerging line of research in
this area has revealed…”)
Mostly active voice, but she does shift from active to passive in order to maintain paragraph old/new
information flow or paragraph focus (e.g. “A growing body of research concerns how students with
diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds participate in and become socialized into the discursive
practices of various
academic disciplines or content areas in their second language…This process, which is generally called ‘L2
academic discourse socialization’ in the recent literature, has been studied…”)
Boosters: “More importantly, as I will show, the case provides significant theoretical implications…”
Evaluative language: “The present study contributes to this current line of research by closely
examining…”; “A detailed investigation of such a case is insightful...”
Through the boosters and evaluative language, the writer makes strong claims for the rigor and value of
her work. The frequent use of “I” also contributes to a strong authorial voice and together with the
frequent attitude markers (“view,” “assume,” “understand”) this communicates a strong subjective stance.