ES1103

English for
Academic Purposes

TUTORIAL 2 (PART A)

Centre for English Language Communication

Course Coordinator:
Dr Abdel Halim Sykes
Integrating Sources and Expressing Stance

Tutorial Learning Outcomes

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

 integrate citations in your paragraphs

 use the language toolkit to express a writer’s stance

 cite with the APA referencing style

 understand how to avoid plagiarism

Introduction

In Tutorial 1B, we considered the importance of being able to

include and integrate the work and writing of others into your own
writing through paraphrasing, summarising and quoting directly.

In this tutorial, we focus on citation conventions for using sources,

and methods for indicating your stance on the sources you include
in your work. The ability to cite accurately and to show your
thoughts on the work cited are two key characteristics of good
academic writing.

When combined with skilful and effective paraphrasing,

summarising and quoting, accurate citation and a clear stance are
hallmarks of a good quality academic text.

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Citation (Referencing)

Citations appear in a text and also at the end of a text, where the
details of the publication are given. In Tutorial 7, we will look at
reference lists (end text citations) but the focus in this tutorial is on
in-text citations, the citations that appear in the body of the text.

Each discipline has its own preferred style of citation. Here are
some common citation styles used in academic texts.
 ACS (American Chemical Society)
 APA (American Psychological Association)
 Chicago
 IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers)
 Harvard
 MLA (Modern Language Association)

What is the preferred or most

commonly used citation style in
your academic discipline?

Before you submit any written work, you should check with your
lecturer for the preferred citation style. Using the preferred style
will help you to write like others in your academic discipline.

To learn more about a range of citation styles, consult the NUS

library website at this link: http://libguides.nus.edu.sg/citation

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In-text Citation

An in-text citation is given when you reference someone else’s

ideas through paraphrase, summary or quotation in your own
work.

In ES1103, we will use the American Psychological Association(APA)

citation style for all written assignments.

There are two types of in-text citations:

 Author prominent citations (AP)
 Information prominent citations (IP)

Let’s look at some examples using the two types of in-text citations
following APA conventions.

Author Prominent (AP) Citations

AP citations show the surname of the author and the date of the
publication first, followed by a reporting verb that leads into the
paraphrase.

Author’s surname Date of publication Reporting verb

Swan (2018) and Lim (2019) suggest that

drinking alcohol can cause liver disease.
Paraphrase

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 Why do you think someone
would use author prominent
citations in their writing?

Information Prominent (IP) Citations

IP citations present the paraphrase first, to emphasise the idea
(rather than the person), and the surname and year are placed at
the end of the paraphrase inside brackets.

Paraphrase

Drinking alcohol is widely believed to be one of

the causes of liver disease (Swan, 2018; Lim,
2019).
Author’s surname
Date of publication

Why do you think someone

would use information
prominent citations in their
writing?

Direct Quotations

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With direct quotations, the same focus on author or on information
can occur. However, direct quotes must be followed by the page
number and not just the surname and the year.

Date of publication

Author’s surname Reporting verb

Swan (2018) states that, “excessive

consumption of alcohol correlates with a
high incidence of liver disease,” (p.39).
Direct quotation Page number

Direct quotation

“Excessive consumption of alcohol correlates

with a high incidence of liver disease,” according
to Swan (2018, p.39).

Author’s surname Page number Reporting verb

Date of publication

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 Why do you think someone
would use direct quotations
citations in their writing?

We use information prominent citations when the ‘knower’, the

person does not matter and it is the concept we want to focus on.
Author prominent citations are more common when we want to
emphasise ‘who’ made the claim (an expert in the field for
example). Author prominent citations tend to be used more in
argumentative texts.

Whichever method you use for integrating sources into your work,
it must be done purposefully and accurately to meet the required
standards of academic writing.

The key thing to remember is to always cite the sources of any

ideas or information that you have gathered for inclusion in your
own writing.

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Expressing Stance

In addition to citing sources appropriately and accurately, you need

to be able to show your reader your particular understanding and
degree of alignment with the sources you cite. Simply reporting
what others have said is not rigorous enough for an academic text.
You need to show the extent to which you agree or disagree with
the material being cited or to show how convincing the material
is. To do this, you need to employ endorsing and distancing
strategies.

Endorsing and Distancing Strategies

The strategies for endorsing and distancing are part of Toolkit 4
(see Tutorial 1A for the four toolkits), which helps you express your
stance and your views about the citation you are using.

If you endorse the source, then you are

aligning yourself with the content of the
citation.

If you distance yourself from the source,

you are showing that you have some
degree of doubt or that you oppose that
view.

Endorsing and distancing strategies are key to showing that you are
analysing and critically reading the sources.

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Toolkit 4 – Evaluation

Purpose
To present views persuasively; to
show caution and tentativeness
when presenting arguments or
discussing results; to express a
critical stance on external 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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As we can see from Toolkit 4, endorsing and distancing involve the
effective use of:
 evaluative verbs
 intensifiers and limiters
 modality
 concessive conjunctions
 passive verbs

So, let’s now consider each of these tools for developing your
ability to express a stance on the sources you include in your
writing.

Evaluative Verbs
Many reporting verbs are neutral while others are evaluative (they
carry the writer’s opinion on the sources).

Example
“Maton’s (2014) findings therefore suggest that this dichotomy is not useful.”

In this example, the choice of ‘suggest’ means that this is Maton’s

claim but that there is an element of doubt. This shows a slight
degree of distancing because the writer wants to indicate that the
findings are tentative or not fully convincing.

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Reporting verbs can be classified according to their levels of
evaluative connotation: from neutral to evaluative (endorsing or
distancing). Some of them need to be followed by a “that (or noun)
clause.”

While it is acceptable to use some neutral reporting verbs, the

writer’s voice and stance are best shown when evaluative
reporting verbs are used.

Task 1
Look at the list of reporting verbs below.

Consider which verbs are neutral, endorsing or distancing.

allege imply remark indicate

argue insist say examine

assert discuss state propose

believe mention suggest find

claim note survey postulate

comment observe write hypothesise

reinforce show
Let’s look at

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Use of Tenses with Reporting Verbs
The main tenses that are commonly used in citations are the simple
past, present perfect and simple present tenses.

 The past tense is used to report on a past, completed activity

or a past finding and conclusion.

 The present perfect tense is used to report on research that is

ongoing or research that is still relevant. It can also be used to
make generalizations about past research, or for presenting a
view in an information prominent citation

 The present tense is used for making generalisations, stating

your views and reporting the stand of the writer that you are
citing.

Pattern Purpose Tense

Pattern I Refer to a single source Past
Example: Smith (2016) investigated the cause of X.

Pattern II Refer to areas of inquiry (areas that are currently being Present
studied) perfect
Example: The causes of X have been widely investigated
(Smith, 2016; Wong, 2017; Ali, 2018).

Pattern Refer to the state of current knowledge Present

III Example: The causes of X are complex (Smith, 2016;
Wong, 2017; Ali, 2018).

Cite famous or important sources

Examples: Darwin explains…
The Constitution states…

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Intensifiers and limiters

Adverbs are used to intensify or decrease the level of endorsing or

distancing carried by the verb. Examples of adverbs used as
intensifiers are: clearly, strongly, unequivocally, significantly
 This clearly supports the case for…

Adjectives are used to do the same for nouns. Examples of

adjectives used as intensifiers are: clear, significant, obvious
 The author’s significant findings…

Limiters are used to qualify or soften a statement. Examples of

limiters are: to some degree, to a certain extent, somewhat
 To a certain extent, Marley (2015) has shown…

Modality

Modality refers to the way we express the range of meanings

between positive and negative. Writers use modality to
 boost (show endorsement and certainty) or
 hedge (show distancing, probability or possibility) in their
statements about sources

Boosters and hedges convey the writers’ voice in academic papers.

We use these to show our stance on the sources or findings we are
discussing.

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 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

Using a range of modality markers is essential when you cite

sources or report your own findings. A lack of modality could
indicate that you consider your interpretation as absolute truth,
which is problematic in the academic tradition that considers
knowledge claims as tentative and falsifiable.

Hedging
and
boosting

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Concession
Concession is widely used when reporting on sources to show your
stance. Concessive clauses within sentences allow you to ‘open the
door’ to other opinions or perspectives, and to then close the door
with a rebuttal.

For example, a concessive clause could begin with

 although
 even though
 whereas
 despite
 while

These words are used to start the information that you want to
distance yourself from. Then, the main clause brings your view into
focus.

Example of the use of a concessive clause

While single-sex schools achieve better academic results (Jones,
2010), the superior social outcomes studied in Becks (2014)
strongly support the case for co-educational schooling.

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The Passive Voice
The passive voice is used when we do not want to emphasise who
did something. It is used often in information prominent citations.
Often, we use the passive because the actor (the doer) has been
mentioned and it is more logical to start the sentence with the
information rather than repeating the name of the actor.

Example of the use of active and passive voice

Armstrong (2016) convincingly demonstrated Active Voice
that the causes for such anti-social behavior
are to be found beyond the simple educational
factor. It has been shown…. Passive Voice

Useful language for expressing the passive voice

Impersonal passive phrases can It has been shown that…
be used to indicate neutrality. It has been suggested that…
Impersonal passive phrases can It might be argued that…
also be used to offer a
suggestion or interpretation.
The passive is useful for hedging It has been argued that ...
and distancing the writer from It was claimed that ...
the sources being reporting. It has been hypothesised that ...
It has been said that ...
It was assumed that ...

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Now that we have considered the various strategies integrating
sources and expressing stance, let’s see how these strategies and
skills can be combined to produce an academic text.

Task 2
Read the following synthesis and identify
 In-text citations
o Author prominent (AP)
o Information prominent (IP)

 Endorsing or distancing language

o evaluative/reporting verbs
o intensifiers and limiters (clearly, unambiguously)
o modality
o concessive conjunctions (although, while…)
o passive verbs

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Academic
Synthesis Language

Water is the
Linguistic most common
systems substance
and features areonthe
earth. In the
parts of form of seas
language and to
used
oceans, it covers approximately three quarters of the earth's surface. It is
make texts cohesive, dense and technical.
necessary for our present way of life as without it human life cannot be
sustained. However, in almost every country of the world, there is a lack of
suitable water (Godrej, 2003; Vidal 2002).
One of the reasons for this shortage is the scarcity of fresh water resources
(New International, 2003; Vidal 2002). The New International (2003)
highlights the fact that most of the water on the planet is saltwater, which
humans cannot drink. The report also states that only 1% of the freshwater
available is actually usable. Unfortunately, as Godrej (2003) demonstrates,
private consumption of freshwater has increased so much over the last
decades that our natural reserves are being used up. There is also a
growing competition over freshwater resources (New International, 2003).
This aligns with Vidal (2002) who states that food and industrial
production have become tremendous consumers of fresh water, to the
detriment of local populations.
Beyond the overuse, a further problem is the pollution of these scarce
natural resources (Godrej, 2003). Barnes-Svarney, (1996) stresses that
although some pollutants are natural impurities, overwhelmingly, water is
being contaminated by human activity. The biggest culprits are industrial
processes that pollute the water with poisonous chemicals as well as
bacteria. Barnes –Svarney (1996) suggests that private houses are also at
fault and may pollute water sources with sewage and house cleaning
products. Barnes-Svarney (1996) warns that these pollutants end up in the
groundwater reserves, reducing even more our access to drinkable
freshwater.

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In this tutorial, we have considered the importance of being able to
integrate sources accurately and appropriately into your own
writing. In particular, we have focused on in-text citation
conventions of APA.

We have also highlighted the importance of the writer’s ability to

express a stance on the works cited. We have seen how features of
Toolkit 4 can be used to develop good academic writing skills.

In the next tutorial, we will focus on combining these skills to

integrate multiple sources effectively and accurately into an
academic text.

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

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