Activity

Step 1

Consider this list of reporting verbs and then, in the four sentence extracts below, decide which reporting verb is most suitable, and why:

show / report / maintain / exemplify / claim / propose / indicate / state / criticise / point out / suggest / support / argue / describe / illustrate / consider / challenge / reveal / prove

- Baran (2018) maintains/proposes/describes how…
- Brown (2018) exemplifies/argues/supports that…
- Findings reported/shown/revealed by Furneaux (2018) prove/indicate/argue that…
- Field (2018) points out/proposes/criticises Setter’s (2017) research into ....,stating/pointing out/challenging that…

Suggested answers
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
Baran (2018) describes how… neither maintain or propose collocate with 'how'* Brown (2018) argues that… similarly, to exemplify or support does not naturally co-occur with 'that'* Findings reported by Furneaux (2018) indicate that… this is what findings do: they indicate, show, demonstrate - but rarely 'prove' Field (2008) criticises Setter’s (2017) research into ..., pointing out that… If Field is pointing out something about Setter's work, he is probably criticising!

Widening your active vocabulary

Copy this list of reporting words into a new document
Take one of your marked essays, or your present draft, and highlight all the reporting verbs you can find
Look them up in an online dictionary and check their meaning, and how they are used (with 'that' / with 'how' with a preposition), and if possible inane example sentence)
Cross off all the verbs in this list that you already use correctly
Highlight any remaining verbs in the list that look useful
Keep a look out for commonly used reporting verbs in your reading of scholarly articles and books, and add them to your list if you would like to add them to your active vocabulary
Try to use them!

Interesting fact: Germaine Greer still chooses a new word every day and tries to use it as often as she can to expand her vocabiulary (this may be an urban myth, but I like it!)

KEY POINTS

Choosing an appropriate reporting verb is the first step towards demonstrating understanding of your chosen text. You are showing that you understand what your chosen author's intention was in writing the extract that you refer to.

Useful links

For a very useful website for checking how these words are used, click here http://www.just-the-word.com/*

*If you are unsure how to use this resource, see the units on 'Vocabulary choice' in the Command of English Module further down this course, or do make an appointment with one of the AWAS team, and they will show you.