hi guys, i've been having a problem with lack of academic vocabulary to cite my literature in each chapter. i've been using a lot of, Smith states that, Smith notes that, Smith suggests ... its become so repititive that my supervisor has noticed. any more ideas? Does anyone know a book that i could use to improve my academic lingua? It would also be great if you could tell me what kind of sentence structures you use. for instance.. Smith attributes this to a b c d and notes (again!) that d has a significant effect ...... help!!!!

Brilliant books full of helpfulphrases is Swales&Feak Academic Wirting for Postgraduate students.

For this particular example try throwing in a 'posits' or 'holds that' maybe.

Beyond this I can only really recommend taking a close look at the vocabulary used in the literature of your subject area.

Created by an ex colleague of mine...

http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/

thanks guys. barnaby - i love that list. i think everyone should take a look at it. thanks a lot!

PS: i'll be giving my chapters a real making over this weekend

wow, i love that phrasebank. i often proof-read english texts for non-native speakers (me being the one-eyed among the blind) and was just today considering starting such a list of my own. spared the effort. thanks!

Wow, that's an absolute goldmine! I don't think it matters how 'good' a writer you are, there's always a point where you find yourself using the same phrases over and over or can't think of a way to put a particular point.

Thanks alot barnaby .. it is a gold mine ..
i will let all my friends know about it to benefit from it.

Thanks again

That would have been really useful when I was writing my thesis! Grrr.

Tiggs

postulates...didn't have time to check if it was in the phrase bank.

the phrazebank is fantastic!! i've just sent it round all the phd students in my department. What an excellent idea

I copy in some links I found really helpful
- the last one includes useful phrasis
http://www.gcal.ac.uk/student/coursework/writing/reporting.html
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/celte/languagesupport/aez/resources/reporting_verbs/#Q1
http://www.uefap.com/writing/writfram.htm

http://www.wmin.ac.uk/sshl/page-2224