By Dalat TESOL
A practical resource for novice scholars in applied linguistics and education
🎯 Purpose of This Guide
This post introduces you to commonly used academic language and phrases for each major section of a research paper. It’s designed to help you:
- Understand the functions of each section
- Learn standard academic expressions to fulfill those functions
- Develop a clear, scholarly writing style
You can adapt these expressions as templates in your thesis, coursework, or journal submissions.
1. 📌 Introduction Section
✍️ Typical Functions:
- Introduce the topic
- Justify its importance
- Review past studies
- Identify a gap
- State the aim and research questions
🧾 Academic Phrases by Function:
| Function | Example Academic Phrases |
|---|---|
| Introduce topic | “Recently, there has been increasing interest in…” / “X is a growing area of concern in the field of…” |
| Justify relevance | “This is particularly important because…” / “Understanding X is essential for…” |
| Review prior research | “Previous research has shown that…” / “Several studies have explored…” |
| Identify the gap | “However, little is known about…” / “Despite these findings, limited attention has been given to…” |
| State study purpose | “This study aims to investigate…” / “The current study explores…” |
| Pose research questions | “To address this gap, the following questions were posed…” |
🟡 Tip: Use cautious (hedging) language when referring to prior research (e.g., “may suggest,” “appears to indicate”).
2. 📚 Literature Review Section
✍️ Typical Functions:
- Summarize findings from previous studies
- Compare and contrast perspectives
- Synthesize themes
- Highlight gaps or limitations
- Link to your own study
🧾 Academic Phrases by Function:
| Function | Example Phrases |
|---|---|
| Summarize | “X has been widely studied in…” / “Research has consistently found that…” |
| Compare/contrast | “While A found that X, B reported Y.” / “In contrast to earlier studies…” |
| Synthesize | “Taken together, these studies suggest that…” / “The literature points to three major trends…” |
| Highlight limitations | “Few studies have considered…” / “Existing research has largely overlooked…” |
| Link to present study | “This study seeks to build on previous findings by…” / “To address these limitations, the current study…” |
🟡 Tip: Avoid simple listing. Use synthesis verbs like suggests, indicates, reveals, or challenges to show understanding.
3. ⚙️ Methods Section
✍️ Typical Functions:
- Describe research design
- Explain participant selection
- Outline procedures and instruments
- Clarify data analysis methods
🧾 Academic Phrases by Function:
| Function | Example Phrases |
|---|---|
| Design | “This study employed a mixed-methods design…” / “A qualitative case study approach was used…” |
| Participants | “Participants included 35 EFL learners aged…” / “The sample was drawn from…” |
| Instruments | “A semi-structured interview protocol was developed…” / “The questionnaire consisted of three sections…” |
| Procedure | “Data collection occurred over a 4-week period…” / “Participants were asked to…” |
| Analysis | “Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS…” / “Thematic analysis was used to code responses…” |
🟡 Tip: Methods are often written in past passive voice: “Data were collected…” — but use actively when explaining your choices: “We chose this method because…”
4. 📊 Results Section
✍️ Typical Functions:
- Report findings
- Summarize statistics or themes
- Refer to tables and figures
🧾 Academic Phrases by Function:
| Function | Example Phrases |
|---|---|
| Present findings | “The results showed that…” / “A significant difference was found between…” |
| Quantitative | “The mean score for Group A was…” / “T-tests revealed a significant effect (p < .05)…” |
| Qualitative | “Three key themes emerged:…” / “Participants frequently described…” |
| Refer to visuals | “As shown in Table 2…” / “Figure 1 illustrates…” |
🟡 Tip: The results section reports what was found — not what it means (save that for Discussion).
5. 🧠 Discussion Section
✍️ Typical Functions:
- Interpret findings
- Relate to existing literature
- Acknowledge limitations
- Propose implications
- Suggest future research
🧾 Academic Phrases by Function:
| Function | Example Phrases |
|---|---|
| Interpret findings | “These results suggest that…” / “One possible explanation is…” |
| Relate to lit | “This is consistent with…” / “Contrary to earlier studies, this study found…” |
| Acknowledge limits | “One limitation of the study is…” / “Due to the small sample size…” |
| Implications | “These findings have practical implications for…” / “The results highlight the need for…” |
| Future research | “Further studies could explore…” / “It would be useful to investigate…” |
🟡 Tip: Use hedging (e.g., may, could, appears to) to avoid overclaiming.
6. 📎 Conclusion Section
✍️ Typical Functions:
- Summarize the key findings
- Reaffirm the significance
- Provide closing remarks
🧾 Academic Phrases by Function:
| Function | Example Phrases |
|---|---|
| Summarize | “In summary, this study found that…” / “The findings confirm that…” |
| Significance | “This study contributes to the field by…” / “The research underscores the importance of…” |
| Closing | “Overall, the study offers insights into…” / “This research lays the groundwork for…” |
✨ Bonus: Common Academic Verbs
Here are powerful verbs you can vary by function:
| Function | Strong Verbs |
|---|---|
| Describing studies | “explored,” “investigated,” “examined,” “analyzed” |
| Showing agreement | “supports,” “is consistent with,” “corroborates” |
| Contrasting | “differs from,” “challenges,” “contradicts” |
| Explaining results | “suggests,” “indicates,” “demonstrates,” “implies” |
✅ Summary
| Section | Key Phrase Types |
|---|---|
| Introduction | Relevance, review, gap, aim |
| Lit Review | Synthesis, comparison, critique |
| Methods | Design, procedure, analysis |
| Results | Reporting findings, visual reference |
| Discussion | Interpretation, implications, future work |
| Conclusion | Summary, contribution, closure |