Academic Writing for International Students of Business

1 Discussion vocabulary

Essay titles commonly ask students to ‘discuss’ a topic:

‘Working from home can be positive for many companies and their employees – discuss.’

This requires an evaluation of both the benefits and disadvantages of the topic, with a section
of the essay, sometimes headed ‘Discussion’, in which a summary of these is made. The following
vocabulary can be used:

Argument and

Discussion

UNIT

2.1

On most courses, it is not enough to show that you are familiar with the leading

authorities. Students are expected to study the conflicting views on any topic and

engage with them, which means analysing and critiquing them if appropriate. This

unit demonstrates ways of showing your familiarity with both sides of an argument

and presenting your conclusions in a suitably academic manner.

+ –

benefit drawback

advantage disadvantage

a positive aspect a negative feature

pro (informal) con (informal)

plus (informal) minus (informal)

one major advantage is... a serious drawback is...