ACADEMIC ENGLISH III

December 10, 2013

TodayWriting clarity: Avoiding nominalization

Peer feedback for Paper 4

NominalizationNoun forms of verbs.

i.e.,

illustrate illustration

fail failure

react reaction

NominalizationTurning a verb into a noun.

- We implemented the plan successfully

- The implementation of the plan was successful.

Try to avoid this as much as possible.

NominalizationThe detective conducted an investigation of the crime.

The hope of the student is to earn good grades.

There was flooding in the building by heavy rains.

A ski trip should be planned.

NominalizationProblems created by nominalization:

- Passive voice

- Unnecessary words

- loss of agent

- use of “be” verbs as main verb

- loss of clarity.

First: Review - NominalizationNominalization can make writing very confusing:

An expansion in the utilization of pencils was the cause of the reduction in the utilization of red ink. (19 words).

An expansion in the utilization of pencils was the cause of the reduction in the utilization of red ink. (19 words).

People are using less ink because they are using more pencils. (12 words),

First: Review - NominalizationNominalization can make writing very confusing:

The analysis process that was the requirement of the experimentation protocol is an indication of researchers’ lack of ability in data synthesis. (22 words)

The analysis process that was the requirement of the experimentation protocol is an indication of researchers’ lack of ability in data synthesis. (22 words)

The way the researchers analyzed the data indicates they do not know how to synthesize data. (16 words)

NominalizationNoun forms of verbs.

Problems with nominalization:

- Make sentences less concise (wordy).

- Increase noun-to-verb ration.

- Make sentences more difficult to understand.

- Can make reading tedious.

Revising Nominalization Look for:

1. Verbs turned into nouns (i.e., investigate investigation)

2. The use of “to be” verbs (am, is, are, was, were) as a main verb.

3. The use of passive voice.

4. A missing agent.

Revising Nominalization 1. Verbs turned into nouns (i.e., investigate investigation)

- Locate verbs functioning as nouns and change them to action words.

i.e.,

The detective conducted an investigation of the crime.

The detective investigated the crime.

Revising Nominalization 2. The use of “to be” verbs (am, is, are, was, were) as a main verb.

Replace simple “to be” verbs with more “action-oriented” verbs.

i.e.,

The hope of the student is to earn good grades.

The student hopes to earn good grades.

Revising Nominalization 3. The use of passive voice.

- Switch to active voice.

i.e.,

There was flooding in the building by heavy rains.

Heavy rains flooded the building.

Revising Nominalization 4. A missing agent.

Provide an agent by indicating who or what is doing the action in the sentence.

i.e.,

A ski trip should be planned.

Jim should plan our ski trip.

Revising Nominalization 1. The budget cuts for the Writing Center were the topic of our debate.

2. The intention of the jury is to reach a decision.

3. There is a need for reinforcement of this law.

4. We did a study of the progression of lung cancer.

Revising Nominalization 5. The delay of the flight was caused by the storm.

6. There was scorching of vegetation by the 2007 fires in Morgan Hill.

7. Our presentation was about a new regulation.

8. It was expected that our collection of data would be quick.

Revising Nominalization 9. The coroner did an examination of the body.

10. A demand must exist for clean energy

First: Review - NominalizationNoun forms of verbs.

i.e.,

The commencement of the ceremony will be at noon.

With an action verb:

The ceremony will commence at noon.

Revising Nominalization 1. The budget cuts for the Writing Center were the topic of our debate. We debated the budget cuts for the Writing Center.

2. The intention of the jury is to reach a decision. The jury intends to reach a decision.

3. There is a need for reinforcement of this law. The city government must reinforce this law. This law needs to be reinforced.

4. We did a study of the progression of lung cancer. We studied how lung cancer progresses

Revising Nominalization 5. The delay of the flight was caused by the storm. The storm delayed the flight.

6. There was scorching of vegetation by the 2007 fires in Morgan Hill The 2007 fires in Morgan Hill scorched vegetation.

7. Our presentation was about a new regulation. We presented a new regulation.8. It was expected that our collection of data would be quick. We expected to collect data quickly.

Revising Nominalization 9. The coroner did an examination of the body. The coroner examined the body.10. A demand must exist for clean energy. We must demand clean energy.

Citation formatSentences must end with punctuation (period, question

mark, or exclamation mark: . ? !)

Computers are the most significant invention of the 20th century (Jones, 2003).

Final Homework BlogDeadline: Anytime before Dec. 23

Reflection on Academic English 3

- Read instruction on the website.