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This page is a list of materials on this site taken from the EAP book.
Here are the comments on assignments you may have received from your teacher, with links to the appropriate pages. They are categorised according to the assignment marking criteria, including Content, Comprehensiveness, Organisation, Cohesion, Coherence, Register and Maintenance of Writing Conventions.
Compare Similarities
You should have discussed the similarities between the two topics in the question because
the question asked you to 'Compare' things.
Definitions
You should define words in your introduction that you think you reader may not have a
clear idea about.
Detail
You gave too much detail in the introduction of the points in your essay.
Evaluation
You did not evaluate the effectiveness of your solutions in your conclusion.
Generalisations
You forgot to draw some generalisations from the main points of your essay in your
conclusion.
New Points in Conclusion
You should not include new points in your conclusion.
Strength of Arguments
Next you should have given your opinion on whether the advantages or the disadvantages
were stronger.
Topic Sentences
You should use topic sentences in your paragraphs.
Summarise Main Points
You forgot to summarise the main points of your essay in the conclusion.
Cohesion can be defined as using words that link together parts of sentences and whole sentences, for example, using conjunctions; e.g. 'and'.
Moreover, Besides & Furthermore
It is bad style to use 'moreover', 'besides' and 'furthermore'. These words show that the
following ideas are more important than the preceding ones. Although this is acceptable in
speech, your writing should be carefully planned, and more important ideas are almost
always discussed before less important ones, not after.
Word Substitution
You did not use word substitution correctly.
Coherence can be defined as the system of thinking and organisation of a long text, for example having an overview in the introduction and topic sentences for paragraphs.
In the Introduction:
In the Conclusion:
Phrasal Verbs
You used too many phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs, which are verbs followed by prepositions,
are too informal for academic writing.They should be replaced by single word verbs, for
example 'The problem has been sorted out,' should be replaced by 'The problem has been
solved'.
Over-assertiveness
You stated your opinions too assertively. You need to use more modal verbs; e.g. instead
of 'ethics is knowing right from wrong' you should write, 'ethics can be described as
knowing the difference between right from wrong.' You could also use more adverbs of
possibility such as 'possibly' and 'probably', or verbs like 'seems to' and 'appears to'.
Informal Negatives
You used an informal negative, which is not appropriate in academic essay writing style.
Informal Quantifiers
You used an informal quantifier, which is not appropriate in academic essay writing style.
Run-on Expression
You used a run-on expression such as 'etc.', which is not appropriate in academic essay
writing style.
Author's Initials
You put an author's initials before the family name, but they should come after it. For
more information see the Referencing page.
Author's Name
You missed out the authors name in a reference. For more information see the Referencing page.
Bibliography
You did not write a bibliography. Including a bibliography is a 'must' in academic essay
writing. For more information see the Referencing page.
Chapter Title
You should put the title of the chapter in an edited volume or paper in a journal first,
and the title of the volume or journal later. For more information see the Referencing page.
Contractions
You used a contraction, which is not appropriate in academic essay writing style.
Eds
You wrote '(Eds.)'. As there is only one editor, use '(Ed.)'. For more information see the
Referencing page.
Indentation
You should indent the second and subsequent lines of a bibliographical reference. Only the
author's family name should be at the left margin. The indent should be half-an-inch in
width.
Informal Negative
You used an informal negative, which is not appropriate in academic essay writing style.
Informal Quantifier
You used an informal quantifier, which is not appropriate in academic essay writing style.
In-text Citations
You did not write any in-text references. In-text references are a 'must' in academic
essay writing, and should be included with every quotation, paraphrase or summary that you
write.
Over-assertiveness
You stated your opinions too assertively. You need to use more modal verbs; e.g. instead
of 'ethics is knowing right from wrong' you should write, 'ethics can be described as
knowing the difference between right from wrong.' You could also use more adverbs of
possibility such as 'possibly' and 'probably', or verbs like 'seems to' and 'appears to'.
Page Numbers
You missed out the page numbers in a reference. For more information see the Referencing page.
Phrasal Verbs
You used too many phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs, which are verbs followed by prepositions,
are too informal for academic writing. They should be replaced by single word verbs, for
example 'The problem has been sorted out,' should be replaced by 'The problem has been
solved'.
Run-on Expression
You used a run-on expression such as 'etc.', which is not appropriate in academic essay
writing style.
Sources
The heading before the references at the end of the essay should be 'References', not
'Sources'. For more information see the Referencing page.
'You'
You used a 'you' to address the reader, which is not appropriate in academic essay writing
style.
Year of Publication
You missed out the year of publication in a reference. For more information see the Referencing page.
Bibliography:
English Language Centre. (2002). 'English for Academic Purposes'. Hong Kong: Macmillan.
In CILL you can find this book on the Study Skills shelf.
Last updated on 03 October 2002.
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