Reporting verbs
Another important aspect of vocabulary that has developed from the establishment of western learning is the use of words to 'talk about text'. Without a strong command of these verbs, we cannot engage authoritatively with the knowledge gained from reading. Very often student writers describe previous research in isolation, divorced from or with only tenuous links to the broader context of academic research. But as Buckingham and Nevile (1997) point out, the academic world is "complex multi-member" community where "any individual researcher's 'studying', 'finding', arguing' etc. occurs always in the context of other researchers 'studying' etc." (p98) and demonstrating the contribution of one's current or intended research to the broader field of study, a necessary requirement of graduate study, requires engaging with the ongoing discussion of the community.
Thompson and Ye's (1991) distinction between:
- the 'author act' which denotes what the author has done, eg. 'found', 'argued', 'believed', and
- the 'writer act' which represents a point which the student writer is responsible for, eg. 'X's claim has become...', 'X's model corresponds to..'.
A second dimension, also from Thompson and Ye (1991) is the distinction between:
- 'denotational' reporting verbs or those which impose no attitude on the part of the writer, eg. 'X reports that...', 'X has studied...', and
- 'evaluational' speech act verbs which show some deeper involvement by the author, eg. 'X believes that...', 'X argues that...'.
Further evaluation can also be added with modifying adjectives and adverbs, eg:
'X argues convincingly..',
'X's excellent review of...',
'In a comprehensive study by Y,...'
where the student writer makes an evaluation of the author's work.
Some examples of reporting the author's stance and the writer's stance
1. Reporting the Author's stance (his/her attitude to the content)
Positive (the author is positive):
Accept, emphasize, note, point out, subscribe to, posit, eg:
- Brown accepts this behaviour as typical of her student population...
- Carroll points out that this behaviour is typical...
- Firbas subscribes to the theory that this is typical behaviour...
Negative (the author is negative):
Attack, dismiss, dispute, oppose, question, reject, eg:
- Brown questions whether this behaviour is typical of her student population
- Carroll dismisses this behaviour as atypical...
- Firbas rejects that theory that this is typical behaviour..
2. Reporting the (Student) Writer's stance
Factive (the author is correct)
Acknowledge, demonstrate, prove, throw light on, identify, eg:
- Brown acknowledges that this is typical behaviour among students..
- Carroll identifies this as typical student behaviour..
- Firbas proves that this is typical behaviour...
Counter-factive (the author is incorrect)
Confuses, disregards, ignores, eg:
- Brown confuses this behaviour with typical student activities..
- Carroll ignores the typical behaviour of students...
- Firbas disregards what is typical behaviour within this group of students
Non-factive (the writer does not express an opinion of the author's information)
Believes, claims, proposes, uses, eg:
- Brown uses this as an example of typical student behaviour
- Carroll claims that this is typical student behaviour
- Firbas proposes that this is typical behaviour
[Adapted from Thompson and Ye (1991]
