Academic Discussions- Cultural Differences and Useful Phrases

Academic Discussions- Cultural Differences and Useful Phrases

Warmer – Academic discussions discussion
Choose one of the topics below and share your experiences, opinions etc of that kind of or
aspect of discussions, including L1 discussions. You can also mention non-academic
discussions if you like.

 Discussions with lecturers/ professors
 Discussions with (dissertation) supervisors/ tutors
 Discussions with TAs
 Discussions with fellow students
 Discussions in class
 Discussions in conferences
 Discussions in small groups
 Discussions in large groups
 Panel discussions
 (Formal) debates
 Planning joint presentations
 Online discussions
 Active listening in discussions (= not just passively listening in silence)
 Turn taking (interrupting, getting other people to speak, etc) in discussions
 Checking/ clarifying in discussions/ Dealing with communication problems in
discussions
 Giving opinions in discussions (including agreeing and disagreeing)
 Supporting your opinions in discussions
 Discussions in different countries/ Cultural differences in discussions

Ask about anything you don’t understand above, discussing it as a class each time.

Discuss the last topic above as a class.

Cultural differences
Read the descriptions of academic discussions in the UK below and decide if each is the
same in your country or not. If it is the same, write the first letter of the name of your
country next to that point, e.g. “J” if you think that thing is also the same in Japan. You can
also write the first letter of any countries that you know about, e.g. “Ch” if something is the
same in China. If the UK is different from other countries that you know about, leave that
point blank and move onto the next one.

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2018

1

Academic discussion situations cultural differences
Lecturers, professors, teachers, tutors and/ or TAs often ask students to discuss a topic in
pairs or groups, perhaps in the middle of a lecture or lesson.

Lecturers, professors, tutors or supervisors often meet students individually or in small
groups and encourage discussion of the topics that they have been studying, researching
and/ or writing about (for example in regular tutorials).

The Q&A session of a presentation sometimes turns into a discussion of the points raised
(rather than just questions and answers), for example if a professor thinks that you haven’t
thought deeply about the issues or if someone has very different views on the topic.

Poster presentations can sometimes turn into quite involved discussions with the people
listening, for example if they find that what you are presenting could have connections to
their own studies or if someone disagrees with your conclusions or approach.

Academic discussions can have many different levels of formality, from very formal/ polite
to very informal/ casual.

People rarely take part in formal debates (perhaps only in special debate clubs).

Only experts take part in panel discussions, so most people will never take part in a panel
discussion (although they might be in the audience of one).

Online discussions of academic topics (on discussion boards, etc) are similar to spoken
academic discussions.

People tend to avoid discussion of academic topics during social occasions like parties.

Active listening cultural differences and useful phrases
Even in academic discussions, It’s normal to respond to everything that the other person
says in some way (= active listening) rather than listening in silence.

We hate repeating in English, so each active listening phrase should be different (“Mmm
hmm”, “Sure”, “Of course”, “Right”, “Really?”, “No kidding”, “You reckon?”, etc).

Repeating the same active listening phrase (“Mmm hmm, mmm hmm, mmm hmm”, etc)
makes it sound like you aren’t really listening and/ or aren’t interested in what is being
said.

Turn taking cultural differences and useful phrases
Silence in a discussion is always negative and makes people feel uncomfortable, so it’s
better to talk over each other, respond before you have really thought about what you want
to say, etc than it is to be silent.

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2018

2

Because we often speak before we have thought about what we want to say, no one
expects academic discussions to be like academic writing or academic presentations (so
people rarely say “There are three main reasons for my opinion”, “I am going to speak
about…”, “I will look at the two sides of the argument in turn”, etc).

The first few words of a sentence often have no meaning but are simply to fill silence while
we think of what we want to say (“I guess I would probably say that…”, “That’s a really
interesting question”, “What do I think about that? Well,…”, etc).

Because we often speak before we have planned what we want to say, it’s normal to later
modify what we have said (“Sorry, what I meant to say was…”, “No, that’s wrong. What I
should have said is…”, “Sorry, that wasn’t very clear. To put that another way,…”, etc).

Even in academic discussions, conversations tend to consist of many short turns (not a
long speech followed by another long speech). This is often “volleyball style”, meaning
commenting on what the other person has said, adding something, then giving the turn
(back) to someone else (“Absolutely. In fact, I’d even say that… Or wouldn’t you go that
far?”, “That’s interesting. My own experience is different. I… I’m not sure whose
experience is more typical”, etc).

To encourage the other person to respond, it is normal to add a question to the end of
what you say (“…, right?”, “…, don’t you think?”, “…, or not?”, “What do you think?”, “How
do you feel about that?”, etc).

In academic discussions, the best way of interrupting is usually with something positive
such as (partial) agreement and then your own point (“Absolutely. What’s more…”, “Good
point, but…”, etc).

You have to be careful about how you change topic and get back to the main topic, as
many getting back on track phrases can be rude with the wrong intonation or in the wrong
situation (so “So, where were we?” is usually better than “Anyway, as I was saying…” and
definitely better than “Anyway, as I was saying before I was interrupted,…”).

Checking/ clarifying cultural difference and useful phrases
If you can’t follow someone’s point, it’s normal to interrupt after a sentence or two to ask
for clarification (“Sorry to interrupt, but…?”, “Before you go on,…?”, “Sorry,…?”, etc).

Most checking/ clarifying phrases are requests (“Can you explain…?”, “Can I just check if
you mean…?”, “Can you spell that for me?”, “Can you say that another way?”, etc).

Giving opinions cultural differences and useful phrases
There is a clear difference between strong opinion phrases (“I strongly believe that…”, “I’m
pretty sure that…”, “It seems clear to me that…”, etc) and weak opinion phrases (“I’m not
sure, but…”, “I guess…”, “I suppose…”, etc).

Pronunciation can make an opinion phrase stronger or weaker (“I believe…” vs “I
believe…” vs “I beliiiiiiiieve”).

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2018

3

There are phrases which can soften the negative impact of a strong opinion by warning the
other person that a strong opinion is coming (“To be frank,…”, “Not many people will agree
with me, but…”, etc).

In academic discussions, you should avoid stating your opinion without supporting what
you say (so you have to say “I’m sure that… because…”, not just “I’m sure that…”, etc).

The best ways of supporting your arguments include quoting data and trends (“Recent
statistics from… show that…”, “There has been a 300% increase in…”, etc), quoting other
people’s opinions and experiences (“Chomsky says that…”, “All the speakers at a
conference I went to last year agreed that…”, etc), knocking down opposing arguments
(“Although many people believe that…”, “It could also be said that…, but this doesn’t mean
that…”, etc), and logical arguments such as cause and effect (“This would inevitably lead
to…”, “The result of this is likely to be…”, etc).

Unlike most academic writing, it’s okay to use personal experience to support your
arguments in academic discussions (“I have found that…”, “In my limited experience”, “I
usually find that…”, etc).

Direct disagreement phrases are rare in academic discussions (so we don’t often say “I
disagree”, “I don’t agree”, etc).

The most common way of disagreeing in academic discussions is with a positive
statement then “but” (“I see what you mean, but don’t you think…?”, “That’s a good point,
but it could also be said that…”, “I used to feel that way, but recently I read that…”, etc).

Instead of disagreeing directly, in academic discussions it’s common to ask the other
person to expand on their views (“Hmmm, what makes you say that?”, “What are you
basing that on?”, “Do you have any data on that?”, “Can you unpack that for me?”, etc).

Hedging and generalising cultural differences and useful phrases
In academic discussions (as in academic writing), we need to be very careful not to
overgeneralise (so don’t say just “Japanese people think…”, “It is thought that…”, etc).

To not overgeneralise, in academic discussions we often add information on how many or
how much something matches our statement, for example how many people something is
true for (“almost everyone”, “the vast majority of people”, “most people”, “many people”, “a
considerable/ substantial number of people”, “some people”, etc).

To avoid overgeneralising, in academic discussions we often add information on how often
something is true or happens (“almost always”, “usually/ generally”, “often/ regularly”,
“sometimes”, “occasionally”, etc).

So that we don’t overgeneralise, in academic discussions we often add information on how
likely something is to be true or to happen (“almost certainly”, “very probably”, “probably”,
“possibly”, “conceivably”, etc).

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2018

4

Brainstorming stage
Without looking above for now, write at least two suitable phrases in each of the gaps
below. Many phrases not above are also possible.
Active listening cultural differences and useful phrases
We hate repeating in English, so each active listening phrase should be different (______
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________).

Turn taking cultural differences and useful phrases
The first few words of a sentence often have no meaning but are simply to fill silence while
we think of what we want to say (___________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________).

Because we often speak before we have planned what we want to say, it’s normal to later
modify what we have said (__________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________).

Even in academic discussions, conversations tend to consist of many short turns (not a
long speech followed by another long speech). This is often “volleyball style”, meaning
commenting on what the other person has said, adding something, then giving the turn
(back) to someone else (__________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________).

To encourage the other person to respond, it is normal to add a question to the end of
what you say (____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________).

In academic discussions, the best way of interrupting is usually with something positive
such as (partial) agreement and then your own point (_____________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________).

Checking/ clarifying cultural difference and useful phrases
If you can’t follow someone’s point, it’s normal to interrupt after a sentence or two to ask
for clarification (__________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________).

Most checking/ clarifying phrases are requests (_________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________).

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2018

5

Giving opinions cultural differences and useful phrases
There is a clear difference between strong opinion phrases (______________________
______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________)
and weak opinion phrases (________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________).

Pronunciation can make an opinion phrase stronger or weaker (___________________ vs
____________________________ vs _____________________________________
or _______________________________ vs _________________________________ vs
_______________________________________________________________________).

There are phrases which can soften the negative impact of a strong opinion by warning the
other person that a strong opinion is coming (__________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________).

The best ways of supporting your arguments include quoting data and trends (__________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________),
quoting other people’s opinions and experiences (_______________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________),
knocking down opposing arguments (________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________),
and logical arguments such as cause and effect (_______________________________
______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________).

Unlike most academic writing, it’s okay to use personal experience to support your
arguments in academic discussions (_______________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________).

The most common way of disagreeing in academic discussions is with a positive
statement then “but” (______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________).

Instead of disagreeing directly, in academic discussions it’s common to ask the other
person to expand on their views (__________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________).

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2018

6

Hedging and generalising cultural differences and useful phrases
To not overgeneralise, in academic discussions we often add information on how many or
how much something matches our statement, for example how many people something is
true for (________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________).

To avoid overgeneralising, in academic discussions we often add information on how often
something is true or happens (_____________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________).

So that we don’t overgeneralise, in academic discussions we often add information on how
likely something is to be true or to happen (_____________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________).

Check your answers above, then brainstorm more.

Use phrases from above to discuss good and bad ways of improving your English.

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2018

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