Page 148 - English for Writing Research Papers

130

7.6 Ensure you use the right tenses to differentiate your
work from others, particularly when your journal
prohibits the use of we
For some good examples of how to effectively differentiate your work from others,
see 18.6 . This section outlines the dangers of not making a clear differentiation.

The following extract is the first paragraph of a Discussion (though something very
similar might also be found in an Introduction). It is poorly written because often it
is difficult to understand if the verb refers to something Wordsworth (a fi ctitious

author) did or found, or to something another author did or found.
original version : Bilingual children (1) were found to show a greater adaptability to new
situations (e.g. change of school, change of diet) and demonstrated a greater ease in com-

municating confidently with adults [Blake, 1995]. As a result of an extensive search for
bilingual children in ten European countries, 149 children (2) were identified (Table 1). One

hundred and twenty two children with parents of different nationalities (3) were assigned to
a group (hereafter Group A). It (4) has been found that those children with parents of the
same nationality but who live in a foreign country (for example, a child with English par-
ents living in Italy) (5) have a greater level of adaptability than those children with parents
of different nationalities living in the native country of one of the parents. Similar adapt-
ability levels (6) have been found in trilingual children of parents of different nationalities
living in a third country [Coleridge, 2011], for example the child of a Dutch/Russian couple
living in France. However, in many such cases (7) it was found that one of the three
languages was not as strong as the other two (Table 2).
Here is an analysis of my thoughts as I read the above extract.

1. The use of the past tense ( were found ) seems to indicate that this is

Wordsworth’s finding. But when I get to the end of the sentence I see the refer-
ence, so I now realize that this is Blake’s finding.

2. Reading the first part of this sentence I am not sure if Wordsworth is adding

more information about Blake’s findings or if he is now going to talk about his
own results. When I reach the end I see a reference to a Table, so I now assume

that Wordsworth made the identification.

3. There does not seem to be any ambiguity here. Wordsworth is talking about
what he did.
4+5. The change in tense from the past simple ( were assigned in 3) to the present

perfect ( has been found in 4) followed by the present tense ( have in 5) sug-
gests that I am reading about another author’s findings. But in reality, I suspect

that these are Wordsworth’s fi ndings.
• Because Wordsworth has misused the present perfect in 4, I think that he may

have misused it again in 6, so my initial thought is that Wordsworth is talking