discussion-vocabulary-diagnosis

Diagnose vocabulary in the Discussion of an English psychology research paper. Checks (1) use of academic register and high-frequency academic expressions from the 5 functional categories in *Science Research Writing* 4.4.2, (2) appropriate modal verb usage across the 6 categories in 4.5, and (3) av

Theory basis

Science Research Writing Unit 4.4 (Useful Words and Phrases) — categorised into 5 functional groups — and Unit 4.5 (Modal Verbs) — 6 categories of modality.

5 functional categories (from 4.4.2)

1. Map to literature / knowledge — positioning phrases (consistent with, in contrast to, comparable to, in line with, distinct from, contrary to...) and verbs (confirm, contradict, extend, complement, challenge, support, refute, substantiate, resemble...)
2. Refine / explore implications — hedging (plausible, potential, tentative; postulate, hypothesise, speculate, theorise; it is conceivable that..., we cannot rule out..., this is reinforced by...)
3. Achievement / contribution — "happy words" (accurate, novel, effective, robust, significant, valuable, valid) and "!-substitutes" / "very happy words" (compelling, crucial, remarkable, striking, unprecedented, vital)
4. Current and future work — (currently, at present, promising, worthwhile, urgent; further work is needed, future studies should, we recommend, would be of interest)
5. Applications / use / applicability — (to apply, to enable, to implement, to generalise, to lead to, to realise, to utilise; applicable, feasible, suitable, viable, practicable)

6 modal-verb categories (from 4.5)

1. Able — can / could / be able to (and perfect forms)
2. Possible / optional — may / might / could (and perfect forms)
3. Expected / likely / probable — should / ought to
4. Obvious / impossible — must / cannot (and perfect forms)
5. Advisable / recommended — should
6. Necessary / essential — must / need to / have to

⚠️ The same form can carry different meanings (e.g., "should" = expected OR advisable; "can" = able OR possible). Context disambiguates.

What this skill diagnoses

1. Use of high-frequency academic expressions — does the writer use the right phrase for each function (map / hedge / contribute / future / apply)?
2. Modal verb appropriateness — is the modal matched to the intended epistemic stance?
3. Colloquialism avoidance — is the register academic throughout (no "a lot of", "we think", "kids", etc.)?
4. Terminology consistency — same concept named with the same term throughout?
5. Discipline-specific lexis — does the vocabulary match psychology conventions (e.g., "participants" not "subjects" in modern usage, "self-report" not "survey answers")?

Diagnostic signals

Signal	Means
"A lot of studies have shown..."	Colloquial — replace with "A substantial number of studies..." or "Many studies..."
"We think that..."	Colloquial hedging — use "We propose / suggest / argue that..."
"Kids / subjects / patients" (when "participants" is the field norm)	Discipline-specific register issue
"Proved that..." (for a single study)	Overclaim — use "our results suggest / indicate / show that..."
"This may can cause..."	Modal stacking — "may" and "can" overlap; pick one
"Must" used to express possibility (when "may/might" is meant)	Modal category error — "must" = obvious, not possible
Same concept called "stress", "pressure", "strain" within one paragraph	Terminology inconsistency

Output format

markdown

## Vocabulary Diagnosis

### Academic expression coverage (per 4.4.2 categories)
- Map to literature: [✓ / weak / ✗]
- Refine implications (hedging): [✓ / weak / ✗]
- Achievement/contribution language: [✓ / weak / ✗]
- Future work language: [✓ / weak / ✗]
- Applications language: [✓ / weak / ✗]

### Modal verb audit (per 4.5 categories)
- [list each modal found, with intended meaning, with whether it fits]

### Colloquialism hits
- [list with sentence_ref and suggested replacement]

### Terminology consistency
- [list any within-text drift]

### Top issues (severity: critical / major / minor)
1. ...

References (to be filled in Phase 2)

• references/academic-vocabulary.md — the high-frequency academic expression list (extracted from 4.4.2)
• references/modal-verbs.md — the 6-category modal verb guide (extracted from 4.5)
• references/rubric.md
• references/checklist.md
• references/examples/