Class: 2

Student: Alex
Tutor: Gustavo

23/09/2015

Academic English
The academic English is the English used in universities and academic publications. Today
we will study the paragraph, its structure and the process to write and read a paragraph in
English.

__________________________________________________
1. WRITING A PARAGRAPH
Structure
All paragraphs have a topic sentence and supporting sentences, and some paragraphs
also have a concluding sentence.
Model

The topic sentence states the main idea of the paragraph. The part of the topic sentence
that announces the specific area to be discussed is called the controlling idea.
Example:

Class: 2
Student: Alex
Tutor: Gustavo

23/09/2015

Supporting sentences develop the topic sentence. That is, they explain or prove the topic
sentence by giving more information about it.
Example:

First of all, gold has a lustrous beauty that is resistant to corrosion.

For example, a Macedonian coin remains as untarnished today as the day it was
made 25 centuries ago.

Another important characteristic of gold is its usefulness to industry and science.

The most recent use of gold is in astronauts' suits.

The concluding sentence signals the end of the paragraph and leaves the reader
with important points to remember:
Example:
In conclusion, gold is treasured not only for its beauty but also for its utility.

Practicing
The texts and paragraphs in English are written to create a flux of ideas. Starting with the
topic sentence that introduces the paragraph idea then, the supporting sentences that
validate the idea and finally the concluding sentence that summarize the paragraph idea.
This structure is helpful for academic students once it is easy for the student to understand
the author idea, and it makes the reading more dynamic.

Class: 2
Student: Alex
Tutor: Gustavo

23/09/2015

Paragraph 1
Many words that are used for English speakers in normal situations come from
other languages
English speakers relaxing at home, for example, may put on kimonos, which is a
Japanese word. English speakers who live in a warm climate may take an
afternoon siesta on an outdoor patio without realizing that these are Spanish
words. In their gardens, they may enjoy the fragrance of jasmine flowers, a word
that came into English from Persian. They may even relax on a chaise while
snacking on yogurt, words of French and Turkish origin, respectively. At night,
they may shampoo their hair and put on pajamas, words from the Hindi language
of India.
Paragraph 2
The European tertiary education system present some differences in relation to
the North American tertiary education system.
In European universities, students are not required to attend classes. In fact,
professors in Germany generally do not know the names of the students enrolled
in their courses. In the United States, however, students are required to attend
all classes and may be penalized if they do not. Furthermore, in the European
system, students usually take just one comprehensive examination at the end of
their entire four or five years of study. In the North American system, on the
other hand, students usually have numerous quizzes, tests, and homework
assignments, and they almost always have to take a final examination in each
course at the end of each semester.

Writing Academic English.

Until supporting sentences and practice writing topic sentences

Fluency
___________________________________________________________________
1- WORDS FINISHED IN ED.
The regular past tense in English is formed by adding "ed" to the verb. This past tense
regular verb ending has three distinct sounds
Examples:

Class: 2
Student: Alex
Tutor: Gustavo

23/09/2015

/t/ as in stopped, walked, relaxed

/d/ as in arrived, walked, relaxed

/id/ as in wanted, needed, hated

Exercise:
a) Listen to what Callum did last Sunday. In particular, listen to how he pronounces the
ed endings of his regular past simple verbs. Which group does each verb fall into - /
t /, / d / or / d /?
Sunday (1) turned (d) into a very long day. My mum was coming back from
holiday so I went to the airport to pick her up. Unfortunately her flight was (2)
delayed (d) for a couple hours so I had to hang around at the airport. I went to
the bookshop and (3) browsed (d) around for a while, (4) flicked (t) through
some magazines and bought a paper to read while I (5) waited (id). She finally
(6) arrived (d) at about 5 o'clock and (7) wanted (id) to go straight home
because she was so tired. So we (8) jumped (t) in the car and I (9) dropped (t)
her off at her place then (10) headed (id) to my flat in south London but when I
(11) tried (d) to find my house keys, they were not in my pocket. I (12) realised
(d) with horror that I must have left them in the airport bookshop when I was
paying for my paper. So I had to go all the way back to the airport but luckily
someone had handed in my keys and I was able to collect them and come home
again. It was a very, very long day.
b) Read the following sentences and indicate the correct pronunciation for the following
words.

He liked ice-cream when he was young

/t/

/d/

/id/

She closed the door.

/t/

/d/

/id/

Class: 2
Student: Alex
Tutor: Gustavo

They invited you to the party.

/t/

/d/

/d/

/id/

I phoned you last night but you were not in.

/t/

/id/

She waited at the bus stop for an hour.

/t/

23/09/2015

/d/

/id/

I watched television all last night

/t/

/d/

/id/

2- TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Swimming in the ocean is better than swimming in a public pool.

Alcohol should be illegal.

Children should provide room and board for their aging parents.

Studying grammar is more important than practising conversation skills.

Class: 2
Student: Alex
Tutor: Gustavo

Television is the leading cause of violence in today's society.

Dogs make better companions than cats.

Smoking should be permitted in public places

23/09/2015

Class: 2
Student: Alex
Tutor: Gustavo

23/09/2015

/t/

/d/

/id/

asked

locked

advised

filled

snowed

accepted

needed

baked

looked

agreed

followed

studied

afforded

painted

brushed

missed

allowed

happened

tried

attended

planted

cooked

mixed

answered

interviewed

traveled

arrested

printed

cracked

packed

appeared

imagined

turned

collected

presented

crashed

passed

arrived

jailed

used

contacted

pretended

danced

picked

believed

killed

welcomed

counted

protected

dressed

pressed

belonged

listened

whispered

decided

provided

dropped

pushed

burned

lived

worried

defended

rented

escaped

pronounced

called

loved

yawned

demanded

repeated

finished

relaxed

carried

measured

divided

reported

fixed

slipped

changed

moved

ended

respected

guessed

smoked

cleaned

opened

expanded

rested

helped

stopped

closed

planned

expected

scolded

hoped

shopped

covered

played

exported

skated

hiked

talked

cried

performed

flooded

started

joked

typed

damaged

pulled

graduated

shouted

jumped

walked

described

realized

hated

treated

knocked

washed

died

remembered

hunted

visited

kissed

watched

dried

rained

included

waited

laughed

worked

earned

repaired

invited

wanted

encourage

saved

invented

wasted

shared

landed

enjoyed

shaved

entered

showed

explained

signed

explored

slammed
stayed