SIGNPOSTING AND TRANSITIONS IN ACADEMIC WRITING

MR .L.KAHARI
RISAH MODULE
DEPARTMENT OF PEACE AND SECURITY
2024
 What you will learn in this lecture:

1 2 3

What is How to use

signposting in What are signposting and
academic transitions transitions in
writing ? in academic academic
writing? writing
 SIGNPOSTING AND TRANSITIONS IN ACADEMIC
WRITING

• Academic writing can be considered a journey from the

introduction to the conclusion. You're the driver, your readers
are the passengers, and signposts are the roads you choose to
take.
• Not signposting your essay is a bit like sleeping on a journey
and only waking up occasionally – it can be disorientating.
You'll wonder where you are and how you got there.
 What is signposting
• Signposting means using words and phrases to tell your reader about the content of your writing to
help them understand as clearly as possible.
• In both academic writing and professional writing, your goal is to convey information clearly and
concisely, if not to convert the reader to your way of thinking.
• Transitions help you to achieve these goals by establishing logical connections between sentences,
paragraphs, and sections of your writing .
• A transition can be a single word, a phrase, a sentence, or an entire paragraph Linking /
transition words and phrases join ideas, sentences and paragraphs together. They should be used
within sentences and to move from one idea to another (between sentences).
• These words and phrases indicate the direction, order and flow of ideas. Significantly, they strengthen
the quality and structure of your work
• In other words, transitions tell readers what to do with the information you present to them.
• Whether single words, quick phrases, or full sentences, they function as signs that tell readers how to
think about, organize, and react to old and new ideas as they read through what you have written
 SIGNPOSTING AND TRANSITIONS IN ACADEMIC
WRITING
There are two main types of signposting:
• introductions, conclusions and outlining main arguments/ the direction of the argument in paragraphs/opening phrases.
• connecting words help guide the reader through the argument by linking ideas, sentences and paragraphs. You can signpost
using single words, short phrases, long phrases, or whole sentences.
We also have
• Transitions between sections: Particularly in longer works, it may be necessary to include transitional paragraphs that
summarize for the reader the information just covered and specify the relevance of this information to the discussion in the
following section.
• Transitions between paragraphs: If you have done a good job of arranging paragraphs so that the content of one leads
logically to the next, the transition will highlight a relationship that already exists by summarizing the previous paragraph
and suggesting something of the content of the paragraph that follows. A transition between paragraphs can be a word or
two (however, for example, similarly), a phrase, or a sentence. Transitions can be at the end of the first paragraph, at the
beginning of the second paragraph, or in both places.
• Transitions within paragraphs: As with transitions between sections and paragraphs, transitions within paragraphs act as
cues by helping readers to anticipate what is coming before they read it. Within paragraphs, transitions tend to be single
words or short phrases
 The function and importance of transitions

• Transitions signal relationships between ideas—relationships such as: “Another example coming up
—stay alert!” or “Here’s an exception to my previous statement” or “Although this idea appears to
be true, here’s the real story.”
• Basically, transitions provide the reader with directions for how to piece together your ideas into a
logically coherent argument.
• Transitions are not just verbal decorations that embellish your paper by making it sound or read
better.
• They are words with particular meanings that tell the reader to think and react in a particular way to
your ideas.
• In providing the reader with these important cues, transitions help readers understand the logic of
how your ideas fit together
• In academic writing, transitions are the glue that holds your ideas together.
• Without them, your writing would be illogical and lack flow, making it difficult for your audience to
understand or replicate your research.
 How transitions work
• The organization of your written work includes two elements: (1) the order in which
you have chosen to present the different parts of your discussion or argument, and (2)
the relationships you construct between these parts.
• Transitions cannot substitute for good organization, but they can make your
organization clearer and easier to follow.
Take a look at the following example:
• El Pais, a Latin American country, has a new democratic government after having been
a dictatorship for many years.
• Now assume that you want to argue that El Pais is not as democratic as the
conventional view would have us believe. One way to effectively organize your
argument would be to present the conventional view and then to provide the reader
with your critical response to this view.
• So, in Paragraph A you would enumerate all the reasons that someone might
consider El Pais highly democratic, while in Paragraph B you would refute these points.
 How transitions work
• The transition that would establish the logical connection between these two key elements of
your argument would indicate to the reader that the information in paragraph B contradicts the
information in paragraph A. As a result, you might organize your argument, including the
transition that links paragraph A with paragraph B, in the following manner:
• Paragraph A: points that support the view that El Pais’s new government is very democratic
• Transition: Despite the previous arguments, there are many reasons to think that El Pais’s new
government is not as democratic as typically believed.
• Paragraph B: points that contradict the view that El Pais’s new government is very democratic.
• In this case, the transition words “Despite the previous arguments,” suggest that the reader
should not believe paragraph A and instead should consider the writer’s reasons for viewing El
Pais’s democracy as suspect.
• As the example suggests, transitions can help reinforce the underlying logic of your paper’s
organization by providing the reader with essential information regarding the relationship
between your ideas.
• In this way, transitions act as the glue that binds the components of your argument or discussion
into a unified, coherent, and persuasive whole.
 Transitional expressions
• Effectively constructing each transition often depends upon your ability to identify words or phrases that will indicate
for the reader the kind of logical relationships you want to convey. ransitions link one main idea to another separated
by a semi-colon or full-stop. When the transition word is at the beginning of the sentence, it should be followed by a
comma:

LOGICAL RELATIONSHIP TRANSITIONAL EXPRESSION

• 1.Similarity also, in the same way, just as … so too, likewise, similarly, by the same
token, in like manner, in similar fashion, in the same way.
• 2.Clarification ; that is, that is to say, to clarify ,to explain, to put it another way, to rephrase it
• 3.Exception/Contrast but, however, in spite of, on the one hand … on the other hand, nevertheless ,in
contrast, nonetheless, notwithstanding, on the contrary, still, yet, after all,
although, an yet, at the same time, but despite, otherwise, though,
• 4.Sequence/Order/Chronology first, second, third, … next, then, finally, after,afterwards,always’at
length’during,earlier,following,in the meantime
• Example :Once again, this is not a reason for lack of rigor…"After this, it would seem most prudent "Coincidentally,
this affected the nature of…""First, it seems that even with the additional data…""First of all, none of the respondents
felt that…
• 5.Time after, afterward, at last, before, currently, during, earlier, immediately, later,
meanwhile, now, recently, simultaneously, subsequently, then
• 6. Example
Transitional expressions
for example, for instance, namely, specifically,
to illustrate, that is ,to demonstrate.
• 7.Emphasis/intensification even, indeed, in fact, of course,
truly, surely, to repeat, undoubtedly, without
doubt, yes.
• 8. Purpose; for this purpose, in order that, so that, to that end, to this
end.
• 9. Summary; in brief, in sum, in summary, in short, to sum up, to
summarize
• 10. Location/ Place/Position above, adjacent, below,
beyond, here, in front, in back, nearby, there ,
centrally,here,neighboring on, opposite to, peripherally, there,
wherever.
 Transitional expressions
• 11.Concession; granted, it is true, naturally, of course, to be sure
• 12.Causation/cause and effect –Connecting instigator(s) to consequence(s). Accordingly as a result
and so because, consequently, hence, so, therefore, thus for that reason, on account of ,since,
therefore, soon,subsequently,while Examples : Accordingly, the author states…“ "Because of the fact
that these numbers show signs of declining,…""For this reason, the researchers…""Granted that the
numbers were significantly higher, the study…""Insomuch as the authors attempt to refute these
findings, research suggests that…"
• 13.Additional Support or Evidence / connecting numerous elements ;additionally, again, also,
and, as well, besides, equally important, further, furthermore, in addition,
moreover, then, , or, as a result, besides, even more,, simultaneously, so far, sometimes, finally.
• 14.To show Importance– chiefly, critically,foundationally,most importantly, of less importance,
primarily
• 15. Conclusion/Summary finally, in a word, in brief, briefly, in conclusion, in the end, in
the final analysis, on the whole, thus, to conclude, to summarize, in
sum, to sum up, in summary 'last
 SIGN POSTING IN INTRODUCTIONS
There are many ways of signposting in introductions which include :
• This essay will [first] outline/examine/address/argue/demonstrate/focus on … and will [then]
ascertain/establish/clarify/show/judge/prove … Next, it closely examines ... in relation to ... Finally, it focuses on ...
and how this affects ...
• To understand the role of …, this essay provides a discussion of …
• This essay seeks to investigate/evaluate/illustrate/discuss the impact of ... in relation to ...
• The aim of this study is to … / The purpose of this essay is to … /This essay argues that …
• The major issue that needs to be addressed is … /The main questions addressed in this paper are …
• This essay critically examines …
• This essay is organised in the following way: …
• The essay is divided into…main parts: part one will … part two …
• This essay will: focus on/ examine/address/ analyse. It will then ascertain/establish clarify/s explore
It is often helpful to quantify what the essay will do. For example, . Then use connecting words like , , , through the
essay in order to signpost the different points. This essay will address three aspects'.
You may also signpost how the essay will do these things. For example: a source or sources such as a literary text,
current literature on your topic, historical evidence, statistical data etc..
• ..
• Examples for teasing fresh content:
Examples for revisiting a topic:
• This section discusses...
• What follows is a description of...
• As said before,...
• Throughout the following pages, I will discuss... • As indicated previously,...
• Below is a concise summary of... • As previously mentioned,...
• In the following section, it will be claimed that... • As stated earlier...
• The next section discusses the issue with X.
• As stated on the preceding page,...
• The next section provides a more in-depth description
of X. • As discussed in the preceding chapter,...
• The following section will describe X's structure and • Returning briefly to the topic of X,...
functionality.
• As stated in the introduction, it is obvious t
• The subsequent section of this study describes in
further detail the... • As was mentioned in the paper's introducti
• Examples for contrasting argumentation between sections: • Examples for transitioning between paper sections:
• Another essential/vital/crucial component of X is...
• Also, it is essential to inquire... • Now, let's discuss...
• In contrast to Smith, Jones (2014) has suggested... • Let us now consider...
• Jones (2014) argues, in contrast to Smith,...
• Nevertheless, little progress has been achieved in...
• Now, let us examine...
• Yet, this approach has a number of significant limitations. • Now we will examine...
• Yet, despite these new studies about the function of...,
• Regarding the experimental data on...
• Similarly, the research of Y indicates that...
• In comparison to X, Y's findings show... • Before starting to investigate X, it is necessary to...
• However, it is important to note that there are some limitations to Y's approach… • Before describing these ideas, it is essential to...
• On the other hand, there is evidence that contradicts this argument…
• Having stated the meaning of X, I shall now proceed to explain...
• Examples for recapping sections: • This study has so far focused on X. The following section will
• Our paper has so far claimed that... address...
• The preceding section demonstrated that...
• In this section's last sentence, the literature identifies... • This chapter has established that... It is now required to describe the
• This section has examined the three most important characteristics of... progression of...
• This review has shown, in conclusion, that... • After discussing how to create X, the last portion of this work
• This chapter has detailed the methodologies used in this inquiry and has...
• This section aims to give a concise review of the literature concerning...
discusses...
• This chapter begins with a description of X and an argument that... It went on to imply that the... • This section examined the causes of X and claimed that... The next
• It has been stated in this section that... The subsequent chapter carries on to analyze the... section of this paper will...
 1.Introducing a new idea
SIGNPOSTING IN THE BODY
• One aspect which illustrates … can be identified as … The current debate about ... identifies an interesting viewpoint on ... First(lee), … /
second(ly), … / finally, …
• The first/next/final section provides a general discussion of …

2.Linking or developing a new idea

• Having established ..., this essay will now/next consider … Building on from the idea that ..., this section illustrates that ...
• To further understand the role of ... this section explores the idea that ... Another line of thought on ... demonstrates that ...
• In addition to/As well as x, y must be/should be/needs to be established … x is one/an important/the key issue that has to be considered.
Another/A second/ of equal importance is … This idea/theory had been extended/developed by….

3.Introducing a contrasting view

• However, another angle on this debate suggests that ... In contrast to evidence which presents the view that... an alternative perspective
illustrates that ...
• However, not all research shows that... Some evidence agrees that ... This conflicts/contrasts with/is contrary to the view held by ..., who
argues that …
4. Summing up a paragraph or section
• The evidence highlights that … It is clear that … The strength of such an approach is that …
• 'This essay will now' — introduces what is next 'Furthermore' — takes the point, issue, or data further 'In contrast' — includes a strong
alternative or challenge ……'However' — adds an alternative or challenge, but less strongly than the phrase 'In contrast'
• Signposting don't always have a statement of intent (like 'It will then', or 'In addition'). You could say: 'Cats are often seen as less
affectionate than dogs'.
 Signposting in conclusions
• In conclusion, … / To summarize, … / As has been shown …
• Clearly, this essay has shown that the main factors which impact upon … are …
• From the above, it is clear that …
• Several conclusions emerge from this analysis …
• The evidence presented has shown that …
• This essay has focused on three factors affecting …
• It has been established that …

You shouldn't introduce new material in a conclusion and can use the past perfect
tense ('This essay has focused on') or present tense ('This essay shows that
It is important for you to use signposting and transitions in your
writing
 References
Ascher, A 1993, Think about editing: a grammar editing guide for
ESL writers, Heinle & Heinle Publishers, Massachusetts.
UniLearning 2000, accessed 10 June 2000,
<http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/main.html>
University of New South Wales, 2009, The Learning Centre, The
University of New South
Wales, accessed 10 June 2000, < http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/>
Thank you for attending