Page 200 - English - Teaching Academic Esl Writing

186 CHAPTER 8
though they are prevalent in conversation and fiction (Biber et al., 1999). Relatively few activity verbs play a key role in academic discourse, and those that are actually needed can be learned incidentally when students are en- gaged in other types of L2 study (Jordan, 1997; Sinclair & Renouf, 1988).
REPORTING ("SPEAKING") VERBS
Lists of reporting verbs can be found in most ESL grammar books, begin- ning with those for intermediate-level students. Reporting verbs can denote such simple acts as ask,say, speak, or tell. Indeed these reporting verbs pre- dominate in informal spoken discourse. On the other hand, in academic prose, the most frequent reporting verbs are more lexically and semanti- cally complex:
acknowledge address admit
advise announce appeal argue
call (for)
carry out challenge deny describe determine discuss emphasize encourage
explain express indicate inform mention note
offer point out
propose publish question quote recommend remark report respond
specify state suggest teach urge warn write
Reporting verbs are particularly important in paraphrasing, writing re- views of readings, and citing information from sources in rhetorical support of a writer's position and/or opinion. Reporting verbs are used to introduce indirect (and reported) statements in the form of noun phrases or noun clauses (see also chaps. 5 and 10). For example,
"... Sandra Scarr,Ph.D.,hasshown thatfraternal twins whoresembleonean- other enough to be mistaken for identical twins have more similar personalities than other such twins."
"The researchers reported finding a gene nearly identical to the mouse obesity gene in humans."
"This research indicates that people really are born with a tendency to have a certain weight...."
TLFeBOOK