Navigating Academic Arguments: Teaching Reporting Verbs in Transitional Reading Courses

ABSTRACT

Reporting verbs (RVs) are commonly used features in academic texts. While college textbook authors are less likely to be transparent about their views, they frequently employ RVs to signal their attitudes about the claims and findings of others. University students, particularly those placed in transitional reading courses, however, may have limited experience with reading texts that use diverse RVs to add depth and nuance in presenting different arguments and perspectives. To promote students’ academic literacy skills, this paper highlights the importance of RVs and emphasizes their functions in conveying various attitudinal positions in authentic university textbooks. It then offers an instructional approach in which RVs are identified in text discussion to promote reading comprehension. The approach provides explicit instructions on how students could use authentic texts including examples from corpora as guidance for brief writing exercises that stimulate the use of a wide range of appropriate RVs. The paper has implications for helping students develop their authorial voice about reporting the views of others and evaluating the merit of their claims in academic contexts.

KEYWORDS:

• Academic language
• developmental reading
• instructional approach
• reporting verbs
• transitional courses

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Timothy S. Nelson

Timothy S. Nelson is an associate professor at Middle Tennessee State University where he teaches and coordinates reading support courses in the University Studies department. He earned his PhD in Literacy Studies from Middle Tennessee State University. His research interests include academic vocabulary and language, disciplinary literacies, and student success.

Mohammed Albakry

Mohammed Albakry is a professor of English Linguistics in the English Department at Middle Tennessee State University. He completed his PhD in Applied Linguistics at Northern Arizona University. His research in language studies is interdisciplinary and often takes up the intersection between language and identity, language and education, and discourse and society. His most recent publications include “Writing Recommendation Letters” published by Michigan University Press in 2024.