ES1103

English for
Academic Purposes

TUTORIAL 15

Centre for English Language Communication

Module Coordinator:
Dr Abdel Halim Sykes
Evaluating, Recommending and Concluding

Tutorial Learning Outcomes

By the end of this tutorial, you should be better able to:

• use Toolkit 4 to make evaluations and recommendations in academic writing

• recognise the components of a conclusion
• use strategies to write an effective conclusion

Introduction

In academic papers, it is important to make fair evaluations of the

information and arguments presented, and it is essential to offer
reasonable recommendations that lead to a well-informed and
logical conclusion.

To conclude well, you need to leave a strong impression on your

reader. This does not mean that you simply repeat ideas,
summarise what you have written, or make a hyperbolic or
sweeping statement. Rather, a well-written conclusion should
convince the reader that your stance or your thesis is logical,
reasonable and justifiable in light of the evidence you have
provided.

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Evaluating and Recommending

The focus in this tutorial is on the key features of Toolkit 4. You

might recall using some of these features for synthesising sources.

Toolkit 4

Purpose
To present views persuasively; to show
caution and tentativeness when
presenting arguments or discussing
results; to express a critical stance on
external on sources used in the text

Features
Hedging and Modality
• Modals (may, might, could)
• Adverbs (perhaps, probably)
• Quantifiers (some, many)
• Verbs (appear to + v, seems to + v, tend to + v)
• Other expressions (is likely to + v)
Reporting structures (The study concludes, As X argues, According to Y)
Endorsing and distancing
• Evaluative reporting verbs (claim, suggest, demonstrate)
• Intensifying and limiting adverbs (clearly, unambiguously,
strongly/somewhat, to a certain extent)
• Concessive clauses (although, while)

This is the toolkit to critically evaluate the concepts, to present results

and discussions, and to persuade the reader.

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The evaluation part of an academic paper provides you with an
opportunity to show your reader what sense you make of the
ideas and information you have presented. Therefore, you must
articulate persuasively the strengths and weaknesses of the
evidence through careful use of appropriate language for
reporting, hedging and endorsing.

In tutorial 4, we saw how important hedging and modality are for

expressing stance and avoiding absolute statements.

Useful language for expressing modality

Modal verbs can, could, must, ought to, shall,
should, may, might
Verbs which convey meanings require, permit, want to, wish
of obligation, necessity, to, would like to, seem to,
inclination or probability appear to, tend to
adverbs and adjectives surely, certainly, potentially,
indicating probability or ability often, rarely, usually, capable,
possible, probable
nouns indicating probability, likelihood, possibility, capability,
certainty, obligation or ability necessity, requirement,
potential

Let’s review some aspects of hedging and modality by completing

the task on the next page.

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 Task 1

Read the paragraph below and identify any examples of hedging.

Text 1
The following are possible suggestions that could be implemented for the
Maoris to aid them in both regulating inappropriate usage of the haka and
allowing them to reap the financial benefits. Firstly, a more transparent
means for consultation of haka could be implemented to minimise
instances of cultural appropriation. While Maoris are not averse to the
external uses of Maori culture, they would prefer to be consulted before
such usage. When Lego inappropriately used some Maori words for their
Bionicle products, the Maoris responded that Lego could have consulted
them so that the culturally inappropriate words could have been replaced,
while still evoking the imagery that Lego was pursuing (Frankel, 2008). If a
similar solution were to be established for haka, it would benefit both the
Maoris and the users. The Maoris would be able to regulate the usage of
haka in culturally appropriate settings and the users would have a more
authentic representation of haka; not just the seemingly aggressive and
uncouth front. Secondly, to enforce such consultation and for the Maoris
to be able to reap the financial benefits of their culture, intellectual
property rights of the haka should be granted to the Maoris. In fact, the
Ngati Toa tribe of the Maoris have previously tried to trademark the Ka
Mate Haka but the claim was overruled on the basis that the haka is widely
recognised as representing New Zealand (Lai, 2010). By granting
trademark rights to the Maoris, they might then regulate the use of the
haka since they have control on who they license their trademark to.
Financial gains from licensing are likely to also assist the Maoris with their
financial plight.

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As we can see in Text 1, when making suggestions and
recommendations based on the evidence presented, the modal
verbs needed are ‘should’ and ‘could’. Also, you must remember
that a recommendation is hypothetical, so when you evaluate its
potential impact, you need to indicate this clearly with ‘would’ or a
hedge like ‘might’.

A common error in student writing is the over-statement of

suggestions and over-confidence in the efficacy and strength of
recommendations. In an academic paper, even when there is
strong evidence to support suggestions and recommendations, it is
better to hedge the claim rather than to boost it.

Task 2

Read Texts 2-6 on the following pages.

• Correct the texts with modality appropriate for the

recommendation and evaluation.

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Text 2

As aforementioned, youths spend a great deal of their time online, the

bulk of which is on social media. Given this situation, it is apparent
that employing the use of social media will be very beneficial. The
Central Narcotics Bureau could tap on this medium for
communication as doing so will not only allow them to reach a wider
audience, but will also be cost-effective.

Text 3

With a proper and convenient communication channel in place,

youths will not only be able to obtain an accurate response on
marijuana, they can also check with trusted authorities and receive a
quick response on whether a particular news on marijuana that they
found is true or false.

Text 4

Hence, to tackle this issue, there should be a greater emphasis on educating the
public on digital literacy and better regulate social media giants as they are
responsible for disseminating news to millions of people. Firstly, as the complexity
of the media industry increases, we should have the responsibility to ascertain the
credibility of a news source ourselves. Both students and adults should be made
to get through lessons on digital media literacy. They can learn from Singapore
where there are cyber-awareness classes for children as young as primary school
(Lee, 2018). The students are taught to distinguish fake news from reliable ones
by cross-referencing with other sources and to assess the author of the articles.

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 Text 5

Next, an integrated system where human touch complements technology can be

implemented for social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Text 6
Another suggestion to help businesses lessen the damage against fake news is to
empower users to fight against fake news. By getting the public to play a part to
stop rumours and fake news, it gives time for the organization to investigate the
case and provide accurate information to the public for updates. Also, by
tapping on the public, it helps the company to gather key information that leads
to the defamation.

The reader needs to see clearly how you assess and interpret the
evidence, and how that interpretation leads to appropriate
recommendations that have merit. Therefore, it is not advisable to
be overly certain or absolute in the recommendations you make.

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Concluding

As you draw to the end of your paper, your readers should be

familiar with your arguments, points or claims, and the support for
these that you have found from the sources. In particular,
experienced readers of academic papers will have specific
expectations of a good conclusion, and you must meet these
expectations if your conclusion is to be successful.

However, unfortunately, many students do not recognise the

importance of crafting a conclusion that brings the writing to a
meaningful and satisfactory end. It is for this reason that we now
focus on how to develop an effective conclusion.

The Structure of a Conclusion

There are four essential components needed for an effective

conclusion.

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 Restate the focus in a sentence at the
beginning of the conclusion.
Show how the ideas and information
presented are related to the issue of the paper.
Include the key words from the prompt.

Revisit your thesis.

Remind the reader of the theme of
your writing.

Restate all the major points.

Show their relevance and
contribution to your thesis.
These sentences are a brief
review of the body of your paper.

What do you want your reader to remember?

State this clearly and confidently.
It should be clear that your final conclusion is drawn from
a considered assessment of facts you have presented.

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Every part of the conclusion must relate to earlier parts of the
writing. Therefore, you must consider how the conclusion fits with
the overall flow and cohesion of the whole paper.

There should be no surprises,

last-minute inclusions or
afterthoughts in a conclusion.

Your conclusion should be a reminder of what has been presented

in the previous paragraphs of the paper. Upon reading the
conclusion, the reader should be in no doubt that you have
substantiated your thesis and that the writing draws logically to
the definitive statement.
Simply, the conclusion is the last piece in the puzzle that
completes the picture. If it is missing or does not fit well, the whole
image is spoilt.

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Relating the Conclusion to the Prompt
An effective conclusion makes clear reference to the prompt so
the reader can see how closely the prompt has been addressed in
the text.
You should always make full use of the essay or assignment
prompt to guide you in understanding what should be included in
your paper. The conclusion is the final opportunity to show the
reader that you have fully addressed all of the key elements in the
prompt.
By addressing the prompt in your conclusion, you will show your
reader how relevant and specific your writing has been to the task
that you have been given.
Task 3

Read the essay prompt below and identify the following items in
the prompt
• content words
• scoping words
• instruction words

“The schooling attainment of children in developing countries is

affected by four main factors: the number of siblings in the family, the
gender composition of the siblings, the child’s gender and the child’s
position in the birth order.”

Discuss this statement in relation to at least one developing country.

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 Task 4

Now read the conclusion to an essay on the prompt given in

Task 3 above.
• Identify the following items that address the prompt
• restatement of the focus
• reiteration of the thesis
• summary of key points
• definitive statement

This essay has examined the impact of gender, birth order and
sibling characteristics on the schooling attainment of children in
urban and rural areas of Egypt. Based on a thorough analysis of
research findings to date, it has been argued that not only do
gender and birth order have a strong negative impact on
schooling opportunities, but also that the number and sex
composition of the children in the family play a large part in
determining an individual’s access to schooling. Although it is
clear from the literature that other factors such as rural or urban
location also impact on schooling attainment, it nonetheless
appears that sibling number, sex composition of families, birth
order and gender are indeed the main factors contributing to
inequality of access to schooling opportunities and outcomes for
children in developing countries.

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 In this tutorial, we have considered how to include effective
evaluation and meaningful recommendations in academic papers.
We have also seen the importance of developing a well-structured
conclusion that brings a paper to a logical and satisfactory end.

In the next tutorial, we will re-visit the topic of citation, and will
focus on managing sources and compiling a complete and accurate
list of References.

All still images in these notes are used under the Creative Commons License.

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