Chapter 3 - Useful Sentence Structures and Language for Academic Writing

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Chapter 3: Useful Sentence Structures and Language for Academic Writing

3c: Noun Phrases and Clauses

Using noun phrases/clauses
(i) Nominalisation
Academic writing is characterised by the use of noun phrases/clauses. Turning verbs and adjectives into nouns helps create a more formal style and make the sentences more compact. For example,

As transportation network has improved, time to travel to other places has shortened.

The improvement in transportation network results in the shortening of travel time.

As shown above, changing a verb or other word forms into a noun is called “nominalisation”.

3a 3b 3c 3d

Activity 6

Change the underlined parts into nouns.
e.g.	Money supply increases and shifts the money supply curve to the right.
	An increase in money supply shifts the money supply curve to the right.

1.	As technology advances, crops grow faster than they used to be.
	Advanced technology accelerates the of crops.
2.	By providing the right amount of support and challenge, young children can learn to be independent.
	Young children’s can be nurtured by of proper support and challenge.
3.	The assessment was difficult. Many students did not perform well.
	The of the assessment resulted in poor student .
4.	The government decided to increase the VAT (value-added tax) to 15% and this concerned the general public.
	The government’s to increase the VAT to 15% caused to the general public.
5.	We analysed the data and it showed that peer pressure could influence drug addiction.
	The of the data showed the of peer pressure on drug addiction.
6.	More and more people use the Internet. As a result, people’s shopping habits have changed.
	Widespread of the Internet has led to a major in people’s shopping habits.

1.
growth
2.
independence provision
3.
difficulty performance
4.
decision concern
5.
analysis influence
6.
use change