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Lesson planC155 minsNew. New: checked automatically for level, grammar, facts and originality; a teacher's review is still to come. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Careful Claims: Hedging in reports
Students learn to hedge claims with cautious language like tend to and it would appear, then write a careful report on a student survey.
Hedging · Academic writing · Research · Education
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Plan at a glance
Aims
- Practise hedging in reports
- Learn and use 14 words and phrases in 2 sets: Hedging words for research, Softening verbs and phrases
- Read for detail: a later start in Harwick
- Writing task: report a survey
Stages · 55 min
- 5 minLead-in: Pairs talk about academic writing and share ideas with the class.
- 5 minLanguage focus: Go through the grammar notes together and check understanding.
- 5 minControlled practice: Ex. 1
- 5 minVocabulary: Ex. 2
- 5 minAccuracy practice: Ex. 3
- 5 minControlled practice: Ex. 4
- 5 minAccuracy practice: Ex. 5
- 10 minReading: Ex. 6
- 10 minWriting: Ex. 7
Printables
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Download all (ZIP, 2 PDFs)Grammar notes
Why hedge?
- In reports and academic writing, we avoid claiming more than the evidence shows.
- Compare: The results prove… (certain) → The results suggest / indicate… (cautious).
Ways to hedge
- Verbs: appear to, seem to, tend to, suggest, indicate.
- Modals: may, might, could (have + past participle for the past).
- Adverbs: arguably, presumably, potentially, probably.
- Phrases: to some extent, it would appear that, it seems plausible that, be likely to.
Study tips
- When you read a news report about research, underline every hedge you find and ask what the writer is not sure about.
- Don't hedge everything: one or two careful words in a sentence is enough.
Glossary
- Hedging words for research8 items
- Softening verbs and phrases6 items
Complete the exercises, then check your answers.
1
Cautious or certain?
Read the statements from reports. Does the writer sound cautious or certain? Put each one in the right group.
- a
The results prove that a later start improves grades.
- b
Most pupils appear to benefit from more sleep.
- c
This is clearly the main reason for the change.
- d
It would seem that many teenagers are tired in the morning.
- e
Every pupil benefits from more sleep.
- f
The new timetable is likely to reduce absence to some extent.
- g
The new timetable will reduce absence.
- h
The results suggest that a later start may improve grades.
- i
This is arguably the main reason for the change.
- j
Teenagers are tired in the morning: that is a fact.
2
Words for careful claims
Use the word in capitals to form a word that fits the gap.
- a
This is the most important finding of the whole study.
ARGUE - b
Pupils who slept longer felt more alert, although we did not measure this directly.
PRESUME - c
A later start could benefit thousands of pupils across the region.
POTENTIAL - d
There is a natural for teenagers to fall asleep later than adults.
TEND - e
The researchers found a clear between hours of sleep and exam results.
CORRELATE - f
We should be about drawing firm conclusions from a single school.
CAUTION - g
The early figures give a strong that the scheme is working.
INDICATE
3
Soften the claim
Complete the second sentence so that it means the same as the first but sounds more cautious. Use the word given and between two and five words.
- a
As far as we can tell, the new timetable has improved attendance.
APPEARS
The new timetable attendance.
Use 2–5 words, including the word given.
- b
Teenagers usually go to bed late.
TEND
Teenagers to bed late.
Use 2–5 words, including the word given.
- c
Perhaps the mild winter caused the drop in absence.
MAY
The drop in absence by the mild winter.
Use 2–5 words, including the word given.
- d
Some people would disagree, but I think this is the most useful study on the subject.
ARGUABLY
This is useful study on the subject.
Use 2–5 words, including the word given.
- e
The findings explain the problem, but only partly.
EXTENT
To , the findings explain the problem.
Use 2–5 words, including the word given.
- f
It seems that the survey was too short.
WOULD
It the survey was too short.
Use 2–5 words, including the word given.
4
Report the findings carefully
Complete the sentences from a research summary with the words in the box. There is one extra word.
Word box
Tap a gap, then a word, or type the answer.
- a
Our data that pupils slept around forty minutes longer on school nights.
- b
It seems that better sleep led to better concentration in class.
- c
Pupils who started later were more to arrive on time.
- d
Younger pupils did not to benefit as much as older ones.
- e
Girls to report more tiredness than boys, though the difference was small.
- f
These results , though they cannot show for certain, that timing matters.
- g
We agree, to some , with critics who say the sample was too small.
5
Find and correct the mistake
Each sentence has one mistake. Write the correction: the corrected word(s) or the whole sentence.
- a
Older pupils tend to sleeping later at weekends.
- b
It would appear as the scheme has been a success.
- c
To some extend, the results were disappointing.
- d
The results may to show a link, but more research is needed.
- e
There is a tendency of pupils to skip breakfast on exam days.
- f
The new policy is arguable the best option we have.
- g
The findings are likely be useful for other schools.
6
Read: a later start in Harwick
Read the text. Are the sentences true, false or not given?
For one school year, the five secondary schools in the town of Harwick started lessons at 9.30 instead of 8.30. The local education office has now published a report on the trial, and its authors are notably careful about what it shows. According to the report, attendance in the first lesson of the day rose by about eight per cent, and the number of pupils arriving late fell sharply. Sleep diaries kept by a sample of 400 pupils indicate that most of them slept roughly forty minutes longer on school nights. The authors describe these changes as 'encouraging', but they stop short of saying that the later start caused them. The winter was unusually mild, they point out, which may also have made it easier for pupils to get to school. Exam results are where the report is most cautious. Average grades in maths and English improved slightly, and there appears to be a correlation between longer sleep and better results. However, the authors note that the schools also introduced a new homework policy during the same year, so it is impossible to separate the two effects with any confidence. In their words, the later start 'may have contributed' to the improvement. Not everyone is convinced. Some parents complained that the new timetable made their own mornings more complicated, and a number of teachers reported that pupils seemed just as tired by the end of the day. The report acknowledges these concerns and recommends a second, larger trial, with a control group of schools that keep the old timetable, before any permanent decision is made.
- a
The trial involved every secondary school in Harwick.
- b
The authors say the later start definitely caused the rise in attendance.
- c
All 400 pupils in the sample slept exactly forty minutes longer.
- d
The weather may have helped pupils get to school on time.
- e
Grades in science improved more than grades in maths.
- f
A change to homework makes the exam results harder to explain.
- g
Most parents were in favour of the new timetable.
7
Write: report a survey
Write a short report.
Your college asked 200 students about their study habits. Most said they study late at night, many said they feel tired in morning classes, and students who study in the library reported slightly higher grades. Write a short report on these findings (200–250 words). Present the results cautiously, suggest possible explanations and recommend what the college could do next. Use at least five words or phrases from the box. Word box: arguably · presumably · potentially · tendency · to some extent · plausible · indicate · correlation Example: The results indicate that most students tend to study late at night. It seems plausible that this is linked, to some extent, to tiredness in morning classes.
Suggested minimum: 200 words
0 words · aim for at least 200
Spotted a mistake in this lesson?· tell us the exercise and item
Revise with a game
This lesson's own words and questions. Play on your own, or in teams on the classroom screen.
- Step UpAnswer the lesson's questions to climb to the top.
- Pair UpMatch the lesson's words to their meanings against the clock.
- SnapA word and a meaning: do they go together? Answer fast.
- Fix ItFind the mistake in each sentence, then correct it.
- Quiz BoardTeams choose questions worth 100 to 500 points.
- Retro arcadeWord Invaders, Word Snake, Word Maze and Word Crossing: classic arcade games with the lesson's words.
Glossary
The 14 words and phrases this lesson teaches, in 2 sets.
Hedging words for research
- arguably
- used when you think something is true but others may disagree
- presumably
- used to say that you think something is probably true
- potentially
- possibly, in a way that could happen in the future
- to some extent
- partly; not completely
- plausible
- seeming likely to be true or reasonable
- tendency
- a way of behaving or happening that is usual or likely
- indicate
- to show that something is probably true
- correlation
- a connection between two things where one changes with the other
Softening verbs and phrases
- it seems
- introduces a careful claim based on what you can see
- appear to
- to seem to be or do something, without being certain
- tend to
- to usually happen or behave in a particular way
- suggest
- to show that something is probably true, without proving it
- likely
- probably going to happen or be true
- perhaps
- used to show that something is possible but not certain
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