3. Expressing Your Opinions
When quoting information you have an opportunity to express your own opinion about it. This is usually done by careful selection of the verb you use to report the information. Here are some examples of varying your opinion using the same quotation that we have already seen.
Example 1: Expressing a positive opinion about the quoted information:
| Gardner (1994) demonstrates that what turns good teaching material into good learning material is what teachers do with it. |
Example 2: Expressing a negative opinion about the quoted information:
| Gardner (1994) claims that what turns good teaching material into good learning material is what teachers do with it. |
Example 3: Expressing a neutral opinion about the quoted information:
| Gardner (1994) states that what turns good teaching material into good learning material is what teachers do with it. |
Reporting Verbs
There is a large range of verbs to choose from. The best way to get a feel for these is to observe how they are used in the books and journals that you read. Look out for the following, when you see them note how they are used:
| argue demonstrate explain indicate propose suggest |
claim describe find note report |
conclude discuss hypothesise observe show |
define examine identify point out state |