Closing Paper Speech Patterns

The last part of my talk will be devoted to …

To all this must be added that …

Before I close I would like to emphasize the importance of …

Since I am running out of time …

As my time is running out …

Finally I want to say a few words about …

I end this paper with a description of …

I leave it to you to judge …

In closing, I want to mention very briefly …

In conclusion, let me say …

In conclusion, may I repeat …

Summing up, I would like to …

Formulas of Scientific Communication

Establishing contacts	I’m glad you’ve asked me that question.
Agreeing	Yes, indeed. I think you are entirely right. I agree that… That’s just what I think.
Disagreeing	I am arguing against… I would object just a little… I object to… I wish I could agree with you but…
Expressing surprise	It is rather surprising… It is unbelievable… I am puzzled by… I wonder about… I find it hard to believe that…
Expressing uncertainty	It seems unlikely that… I have doubts about… I am not at all sure about… I am not certain… I am doubtful whether… I have been rather puzzled by… I doubt it.
Making contribution	In connection with … I would like to add … Let me add that… In addition, I would like to mention… I would add that…
Calling attention	I want to point out that… I would like to note… I would like to stress the importance of… It is worth pointing out that… I would like to draw/ call your attention to…
Making assessment	The paper raises an important question … This method is particularly important because… The paper demonstrates how important it is to… These results/ data are of particular interest.
Starting a conversation	As far as I know… What I have in mind is that…
Making remarks	I’d like to make a comment on … I would like to comment on… I have a point to make.
Provoking arguments	Would you agree with…? There seems to be some contradiction between your points of view. Does that mean you think…?
Asking for details/classification	Could you be more specific about…? I am not clear about… Could you give us some more facts to back that up, please?
Introducing opinions/attitudes	Well, I’d like to say that… What I think is…
Delaying an answer	Well, let me see… Well, now… That’s a good question… Oh, let me think for a moment… It is rather difficult to answer this question … It’s difficult to give you an exact answer, but… I’m not too sure, but… I’ve no idea, I’m afraid.
Avoiding answering	I have no particular theory for this fact, but … I’m terribly sorry, I really don’t know. Actually, I don’t know … I’d rather not answer that, if you don’t mind.

 

COMMUNICATIVE PRACTICE:

Act out the situations:

1. Two post-graduate students are participating in an international conference. There they get acquainted and talk about the problems of their research, discuss the progress in their field of science and its influence on life today.

2. Two post-graduate students are sharing information about new approaches and developments in their research areas. They talk about the contributions made by other scientists and discuss publications available on their research problems.

3. Two young researchers are discussing their current research, expressing particular interest in the objectives of the research, and describing the methods they use.

4. You have a poster presentation at the conference. Another participant is interested in your topic. Tell him about the main stages of your research, present the results obtained, and give a short explanation of the main findings.

5. You are interested in your colleague’s research and his latest findings. Ask him/her about the difficulties he/she faced with in carrying out research (experiments, analyses), and about the progress he/she has made.

6. Your fellow-student has never participated in a conference. He is eager to know about your experiences. Tell him what the most difficult thing for you was and what you really enjoyed.

7. You are a chairperson opening a Students’ Annual Conference. To do it you are given five minutes.

8. You submitted a paper to the organizing committee of an international conference and it was accepted. Today you are given the floor to present your research data. The time limit is ten minutes. Give your presentation.