Academic language uses some very specific words when questions or assignments are set for students. These words can be confusing if you are not used to them and you may not be sure what you are being asked to do or what you should write about. This short list explains what tutors and examiners are looking for when they use these academic words in their questions or in the titles of their assignments.
- Account for
- give the reasons for something, explain why something happens or happened
- Analyse
- look at something very closely, examine it in detail, identify the important points or the key features, say how they are related and how each one relates to the topic under discussion
- Assess
- Carefully consider all the factors or events that apply to the subject, show which are the most important and relevant, give reasons for your views
- Classify
- Sort your information into appropriate categories before presenting or explaining it
- Comment critically
- Give your view after you have considered all the evidence, pay attention to the positive and negative aspects or the arguments for and against
- Comment on
- Identify the main issues and write about them, give your views based upon what you have read or heard in lectures. But, try not to give purely personal opinions
- Compare
- Show how two or more things are similar and show the results of these similarities
- Compare and contrast
- Describe the main factors that apply in two or more situations, explain the similarities and differences or the advantages and disadvantages
- Contrast
- Discuss two or more items in opposition to each other in order to show their differences. Discuss whether the differences are important. If needed say why one item may be preferable to the other
- Create
- Make, invent or construct an item
- Critically evaluate
- Discuss the arguments for and against something; establish the importance of the evidence on both sides. Use clear criteria to assess which items or opinions are preferable
- Define
- Give the exact meaning of a particular term, give an example to clarify the meaning and, if necessary, explain why the definition may be problematic
- Demonstrate
- Provide examples and/or evidence to support your argument. In some subjects this may also mean giving a practical performance
- Describe
- Give the main points or features of something, or outline the main events; link them together logically
- Discuss
- Write logically about the most important aspects of something, offer criticism, give arguments for and against, talk about the implications or consequences of something
- Distinguish
- Draw out the differences between two or more items
- Evaluate
- Assess the value, importance or usefulness of something based upon the available evidence; perhaps give arguments for and against; review the information and bring it together to form a conclusion
- Examine
- Look at the subject in detail
- Explain
- show clearly why something happens, show why it is the way it is, set out in detail the meaning of something. It is often helpful to give examples; start with the topic and then move on to the “how” or “why”
- Identify
- Distinguish the main features or basic facts relating to a subject
- Illustrate
- Make something clear and explicit, give examples to show what you mean, show the evidence
- Interpret
- Define or explain the meaning of something, give the meaning or relevance of data or other material
- Justify
- Give the evidence that supports an idea, show why a decision was made, show why a conclusion was reached, consider the objections that others might make
- Narrate
- Say what happened, describing events in the form of a story
- Outline
- give just the main points, show the main structure, write a clear description that includes the main points but does not give too much detail
- Plan (or devise)
- Work out and explain how you would carry out a task or activity
- Relate
- Show the similarities or connections between two or more things, give a full account of with reasons
- Research
- Carry out a full investigation
- Specify
- Give full details and descriptions of an item or activity
- State
- Write a clear, full account; give the main features of something in a very clear style using full sentences
- Summarise
- describe the main points without giving any detail or examples
- To what extent
- describe how far something is true or contributes to a final outcome. Also consider ways in which it may be untrue. The answer is usually somewhere between “completely” and “not at all”
- Trace
- Follow the order of different stages in an event or a process
- Undertake
- Carry out a specific activity
