Key Terms

Question 1

Reporting expression

Answer 1

• identify and represent the source of reported speech - CLAIRE MARTIN SAID it’s going to rain today
• signal that the statement was made by someone else, shows that someone else’s idea is being described, positions researcher

Question 2

Reported speech

Answer 2

• borrowed material from another source - Claire Martin said IT’S GOING TO RAIN TODAY
• can support your argument, show state of knowledge or knowledge gap, situate your own work, etc.

Question 3

Reporting verb

Answer 3

a verb indicating what someone has said - Claire Martin SAID it’s going to rain today

Question 4

Citation

Answer 4

• attributing the source of reported speech - CLAIRE MARTIN said it’s going to rain today
• gives credit to the source of the statement, identifies the position the info comes from, etc.

Question 5

Abstraction

Answer 5

• the big ideas of research, intangible concepts - disability, beauty, identity, etc.
• indicate what topics the research focuses on, indicates that mid- and low-level details will soon be provided to clarify these big ideas (in a way that’s specific to a certain discourse)

Question 6

discursive I

Answer 6

• references the speaker as a contributor to the discourse - I claim, I suggest, I focus on, I advocate, I shift the focus, I begin with, I close with
• situate themselves within research and acknowledge their contribution

Question 7

forecasts

Answer 7

• tell the reader how the writing will be organized - First, I will… second I will… etc.
• help reader organize information

Question 8

self-reference

Answer 8

positions writer in discourse and identifies their contribution - In this study we… the point we are making is…

Question 9

statements of emphasis

Answer 9

• emphasize what you’re going to talk about - this study will focus on, my main interest is, etc.
• draw reader’s attention to particular pieces of info

Question 10

methodological I

Answer 10

indicates that writer is a practitioner of research methods - we recruited, we surveyed

Question 11

appositon

Answer 11

introducing a term, then providing a definition for it that is separated by a semi-colon, colon, commas, or brackets - a hybrid arm, a body powered prosthesis…

Question 12

formal definition

Answer 12

establishes clear definition of a term (and its class and features/what it does) - Wilson defines social control as a mechanism of prohibition and restriction involving the enforcement of conformity by society upon its members, either by law or by social pressure…

Question 13

Agentless expression

Answer 13

• leaves you wondering who? - Representations of disability in adult comedy function to
  situate disabled people were examined.
• prioritizes info over their role in the research
• removes themselves so readers can focus on most important info

Question 14

Passive construction

Answer 14

an action is happening to something - the ball was thrown

Question 15

nominalization

Answer 15

using nouns instead of verbs, typical of scholarly writing because it allows for specificity - “non-specific goal strategy in problem solving” instead of “thinking”

Question 16

knowledge-making I

Answer 16

• marks the researcher’s presence but establishes a bit of uncertainty - I think, I believe
• indicate findings come from a limited position

Question 17

modality/modal expression

Answer 17

• portray the same uncertainty as the knowledge-making I, but without using I - seems, must, could, might, maybe, perhaps, possibly, appears
• indicate findings come from a limited position

Question 18

limiting expressions

Answer 18

• limit statements (usually generalities) to indicate that they’re not universally true - usually, most, some, generally, often, sometimes, typically
• indicate parameters of knowledge

Question 19

qualitative

Answer 19

subjective, few subjects in-depth, observational, finding patterns

Question 20

quantitative

Answer 20

objective, large subject pool, experimental, measurements, manipulations, numerical, researcher distanced from research

Question 21

assertion

Answer 21

making a statement of new information for the reader - as if the reader didn’t know this information

Question 22

methods of research

Answer 22

• procedures used to produce new knowledge - either qualicative or quantitative
• indicate what kind of knowledge the authors aim to produce

Question 23

modals of moral obligation

Answer 23

establishes what needs to be done/how this research can be applied (words like ‘should’, ‘needs’, ‘must’)

Question 24

presupposition

Answer 24

assuming that the reader knows info about your topic; making references that the reader can infer rather than explaining/asserting the whole concept

Question 25

secured generalizations

Answer 25

generalization that has been cited to indicate that it is the production of a tradition of inquiry

Question 26

statements of obviousness

Answer 26

used to express researcher's opinion that the statement is obvious (ie. "certainly", "evidently", "surely", "undoubtedly", etc.)