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Present Perfect in Academic Writing

The document discusses the use of the present perfect tense in academic writing. It explains that the present perfect is used to report on past events and situations in a way that emphasizes their present relevance or consequences. The document provides examples from academic texts to illustrate how the present perfect is used to discuss past research or events in a way that relates to the current understanding or situation.

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168 views3 pages

Present Perfect in Academic Writing

The document discusses the use of the present perfect tense in academic writing. It explains that the present perfect is used to report on past events and situations in a way that emphasizes their present relevance or consequences. The document provides examples from academic texts to illustrate how the present perfect is used to discuss past research or events in a way that relates to the current understanding or situation.

Uploaded by

cuiviewen
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PRESENT PERFECT IN ACADEMIC

WRITING
Grammar – Perfect Tenses

There are many contexts in academic writing where you have to


report on past events. You may need to report on work done by
other researchers for example, in a summary or literature review
or you may be reporting on your own work. Additionally, you
may need to describe non-academic events, for example in an
interview. In doing this you will need to make appropriate choices
of verb tense forms. In this document we look at how academic
writers choose present perfect in reporting events and situations.

In academic writing the distinction between the past simple and present perfect often
indicates the difference between specific information and generalizations. For example, in
reporting empirical investigations such as experiments or surveys, detailed information
specific to the study is reported in the simple past tense, while the present perfect tense
is used for generalized conclusions.
This excerpt is from a paper by Harry Lerner, a researcher at The University of Western
Ontario shows some examples of the present perfect. In these cases the present perfect is
really concerned with the present situation, even though the action that the verb refers to
happened or started in the past. Academic writers often choose the Present Perfect Tense
instead of the Past Tense when they are really interested in the present consequences of
recent events.

Abstract
The role of archaeology in the broader field of anthropology has grown from mere
travelogues making no contribution to further our understanding of the past, to detailed
scientific analyses forming a permanent complex bond between the two fields of endeavor.
The leading figure in the discipline responsible for the formation of this bond is Lewis R.
Binford. He envisions a pivotal role for archaeology in the piecing together of cultural
puzzles, and his vision has become what is termed the New Archaeology.
Conclusions
The New Archaeology has fostered a number of different ways of observing and interpreting
the archaeological record.

This archaeology text illustrates the present situation of the field, which is why the verbs are
in present perfect.
Complete the sentences using the appropriate form of the verb in brackets. Check your
answers with your ASK Tutor.

From a European perspective, there 1.____________ (be) little research on teaching and
learning in small rural schools over the last two decades (Kvalsund & Hargreaves, 2009),
and information on the incidence of multi-grade teaching is difficult to find (Mulryan-Kyne,
2007). Little (2001) points out that most research on multi-grade teaching
2._____________(focus) on its impact on students’ learning. The discussion of multi-grade
teaching 3. _______________ (address) the question of whether students’ learning results
are better in single-grade classes or in multi-grade classes, but studies
4.__________________ (not find) significant differences between these two forms
(e.g., Veenman, 1995; Åberg-Bengtsson, 2009 ; Lindström and Lindahl, 2011).
According to Hoffman (2003), around the year 2000, the increased awareness of multi-age
education as a child-centered strategy began to arouse interest in the practice throughout
the United States as well as in many other countries. For example, in the Central-European
German-speaking research area, multi-grade teaching 5._____________ (investigate) in
recent years, especially from the point of view of school reform. The practice
6.____________ (seen) as a possibility to optimize the phase of school beginning, as multi-
grade teaching enables flexible school entry and does not “dramatize” developmental
differences between children (Heinzel, 2007, p. 38).

Excerpt from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883035515000749


Why is the word began used in the text? Don’t forget to ask your ASK Tutor!
Answers
Task 1
1. Has been
2. Has focused
3. Has addressed
4. Have not found
5. has been investigated
6. has been seen
Task 2
The information refers to a previous year (around the year 2000), so this indicates a past
event

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