What Otto says strikes a chord with me, particularly the point “By using a phrase (or a term), student writers also learn the concept behind it and vice versa (even if they initially may miss its full meaning). Phrases should be seen as part of both worlds: the conceptual world of knowledge and the world of linguistic representation.”

I think it quite likely that experienced researchers who are not comfortable in English will find great value in a resource that enables them to put words to the concepts or acts they wish to perform in their writing. For students, especially BA students, however, it is often more of a problem that inappropriate language is a pointer towards inappropriate intellectual activity. They frequently use the word discuss, thinking this (roughly meaning “knock some ideas around with sources thrown in”) is what academic papers do. They use the words “highlight” and “stress” about the work of other authors to mean “I think this is important”. Frequently their purpose is to “outline”, more or less meaning “describe”.

At the same time as introducing students to appropriate words and phrases, we often need to help them understand that replacing “discuss” with “argue”, is not sufficient unless they also conceptually stop “discussing” and start presenting claims, supporting them with adequate evidence and providing a warrant that the evidence indeed supports the claim. The concept or activity and the word that go with it both have to be understood.

John