Describing Graphic Information or a Process in
Language Appropriate to Report Writing.
With few exceptions, the graphic information will come in
one of five forms –
• line graph
• bar graph
• pie chart
• table
• diagram
These will be illustrating information contained in your
research paper.
Western Participants Residence
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
(Masters 2008)
Australia and NZ
25%
North America
25%
Britain
23%
Germany
10%
Sweden
8%
Other European
9%
Asian Participants Country Residence
Taiwan
Singapore
Malaysia
1
2
3
South Korea
4
5
6
Japan
China inc Hong Kong
7
Thailand
(Masters 2008)
Geert Hofstede™ Cultural Dimensions
Selecting Information
Important:
• Describe the whole graph fully
• Does not mean note every detail
• Do not include too much information
• Summarise by dividing into its main parts
• Describe the trends
Task one: single line graph
Describing Trends
Expressing Movement: Nouns and Verbs
For each trend there are a number of verbs and nouns to
express the movement.
• Use a verb of change, for example:
•Unemployment levels fell
•Or we can use a related noun, for example:
•There was a fall in unemployment levels
Describing the Movement: Adjectives and Adverbs
Giving more information about a trend:
•There has been a slight increase in the value of the dollar
(degree of change)
•Unemployment fell rapidly last year
(the speed of change)
**Remember:
•We modify a noun with an adjective (a slight increase)
and
• A verb with an adverb (to increase slightly).
Describing the Degree of Change
Describing the Speed of Change
Expressing Approximation
Describe the information period by period
•Graph gives the information in five year sections
Sample Task
•¨first, a gradual increase from 1960 to 1968
•¨second, a steeper increase from 1968 to 1977
•¨third, a plateau from 1977 to 1983
•¨fourth, a drop from 1983 to 1988
Bar Graphs
When describing some bar graphs you will sometimes use
the same language as the line graphs. This will be the case if
one axis of the bar graph gives a time scale.
Example 1
In some cases, however, it will not be appropriate to
describe the bar graphs in terms of time and different
language will need to be used.
Example 2
In this graph of Electro Inc’s television sales between 1996 and
1999, we can see that purchases of televisions went up in 1996 and
continued to rise steadily until 1998 when they dropped slightly.
Someland was the most popular destination for holiday makers
from Indonesia with about one million, followed by Japan which
attracted approximately eight hundred thousand holiday makers
Comparing and Contrasting
Adjectives - One syllable

cheap
cheaper
cheapest

large
larger
largest

bright
brighter
brightest
Exceptions:

good
better
best

bad
worse
worst
Two syllables
pretty
happy
prettier
happier
prettiest
happiest
Some comparatives and superlatives:
striking
clever
more striking
most striking
more clever / cleverer
most clever /cleverest
Three or more syllables

attractive
more attractive
most attractive

profitable
more profitable
most profitable

expensive
more expensive
most expensive