Class: 2 23/09/2015 Student: Alex Tutor: Gustavo

Academic English

The academic English is the English used in universities and academic publications. Today

we will study the paragraph, its structure and the process to write and read a paragraph in

English.

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1. WRITING A PARAGRAPH Structure

All paragraphs have a topic sentence and supporting sentences, and some paragraphs also have a concluding sentence.

Model

The topic sentence states the main idea of the paragraph. The part of the topic sentence that announces the specific area to be discussed is called the controlling idea. Example:

Class: 2 23/09/2015 Student: Alex Tutor: Gustavo

Supporting sentences develop the topic sentence. That is, they explain or prove the topic sentence by giving more information about it. Example:

First of all, gold has a lustrous beauty that is resistant to corrosion.

For example, a Macedonian coin remains as untarnished today as the day it was made 25 centuries ago.

Another important characteristic of gold is its usefulness to industry and science.

The most recent use of gold is in astronauts' suits.

The concluding sentence signals the end of the paragraph and leaves the reader with important points to remember: Example: In conclusion, gold is treasured not only for its beauty but also for its utility.

Practicing The texts and paragraphs in English are written to create a flux of ideas. Starting with the topic sentence that introduces the paragraph idea then, the supporting sentences that validate the idea and finally the concluding sentence that summarize the paragraph idea. This structure is helpful for academic students once it is easy for the student to understand the author idea, and it makes the reading more dynamic.

Class: 2 23/09/2015 Student: Alex Tutor: Gustavo

Paragraph 1 Many words that are used for English speakers in normal situations come from other languages English speakers relaxing at home, for example, may put on kimonos, which is a Japanese word. English speakers who live in a warm climate may take an afternoon siesta on an outdoor patio without realizing that these are Spanish words. In their gardens, they may enjoy the fragrance of jasmine flowers, a word that came into English from Persian. They may even relax on a chaise while snacking on yogurt, words of French and Turkish origin, respectively. At night, they may shampoo their hair and put on pajamas, words from the Hindi language of India. Paragraph 2 The European tertiary education system present some differences in relation to the North American tertiary education system. In European universities, students are not required to attend classes. In fact, professors in Germany generally do not know the names of the students enrolled in their courses. In the United States, however, students are required to attend all classes and may be penalized if they do not. Furthermore, in the European system, students usually take just one comprehensive examination at the end of their entire four or five years of study. In the North American system, on the other hand, students usually have numerous quizzes, tests, and homework assignments, and they almost always have to take a final examination in each course at the end of each semester.

Writing Academic English.

Until supporting sentences and practice writing topic sentences

Fluency

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1- WORDS FINISHED IN ED.

The regular past tense in English is formed by adding "ed" to the verb. This past tense

regular verb ending has three distinct sounds

Examples:

o /t/ as in stopped, walked, relaxed

Class: 2 23/09/2015 Student: Alex Tutor: Gustavo

o /d/ as in arrived, walked, relaxed

o /id/ as in wanted, needed, hated

Exercise:

a) Listen to what Callum did last Sunday. In particular, listen to how he pronounces the

–ed endings of his regular past simple verbs. Which group does each verb fall into - /

t /, / d / or / ɪd /?

“Sunday (1) turned (d) into a very long day. My mum was coming back from

holiday so I went to the airport to pick her up. Unfortunately her flight was (2)

delayed (d) for a couple hours so I had to hang around at the airport. I went to

the bookshop and (3) browsed (d) around for a while, (4) flicked (t) through

some magazines and bought a paper to read while I (5) waited (id). She finally

(6) arrived (d) at about 5 o'clock and (7) wanted (id) to go straight home

because she was so tired. So we (8) jumped (t) in the car and I (9) dropped (t)

her off at her place then (10) headed (id) to my flat in south London but when I

(11) tried (d) to find my house keys, they were not in my pocket. I (12) realised

(d) with horror that I must have left them in the airport bookshop when I was

paying for my paper. So I had to go all the way back to the airport but luckily

someone had handed in my keys and I was able to collect them and come home

again. It was a very, very long day.”

b) Read the following sentences and indicate the correct pronunciation for the following

words.

o He liked ice-cream when he was young

/t/ /d/ /id/

o She closed the door.

/t/ /d/ /id/

o They invited you to the party.

/t/ /d/ /id/

o She waited at the bus stop for an hour.

/t/ /d/ /id/

o I phoned you last night but you were not in.

/t/ /d/ /id/

Class: 2 23/09/2015 Student: Alex Tutor: Gustavo

o I watched television all last night

/t/ /d/ /id/

2- TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

o Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

o Swimming in the ocean is better than swimming in a public pool.

o Alcohol should be illegal.

o Children should provide room and board for their aging parents.

o Studying grammar is more important than practising conversation skills.

o Television is the leading cause of violence in today's society.

o Dogs make better companions than cats.

o Smoking should be permitted in public places

Class: 2 23/09/2015 Student: Alex Tutor: Gustavo

/t/ /d/ /id/

asked

baked

brushed

cooked

cracked

crashed

danced

dressed

dropped

escaped

finished

fixed

guessed

helped

hoped

hiked

joked

jumped

knocked

kissed

laughed

locked

looked

missed

mixed

packed

passed

picked

pressed

pushed

pronounced

relaxed

slipped

smoked

stopped

shopped

talked

typed

walked

washed

watched

worked

advised

agreed

allowed

answered

appeared

arrived

believed

belonged

burned

called

carried

changed

cleaned

closed

covered

cried

damaged

described

died

dried

earned

encouraged

enjoyed

entered

explained

explored

filled

followed

happened

interviewed

imagined

jailed

killed

listened

lived

loved

measured

moved

opened

planned

played

performed

pulled

realized

remembered

rained

repaired

saved

shared

shaved

showed

signed

slammed

stayed

snowed

studied

tried

traveled

turned

used

welcomed

whispered

worried

yawned

accepted

afforded

attended

arrested

collected

contacted

counted

decided

defended

demanded

divided

ended

expanded

expected

exported

flooded

graduated

hated

hunted

included

invited

invented

landed

needed

painted

planted

printed

presented

pretended

protected

provided

rented

repeated

reported

respected

rested

scolded

skated

started

shouted

treated

visited

waited

wanted

wasted