Using 'on the contrary': the conceptual problems for EAP students

In academic writing, non-native speakers tend to misuse the phrase ‘on the contrary’, confusing it with ‘on the other hand’. Sources of guidance to usage in English almost invariably describe it as a phrase of contrast or contradiction. This may apply to how the phrase is normally used in dialogue, but an analysis of the phrase as usually encountered in written academic discourse suggests that such an explanation is not helpful. This has implications for EAP teachers and students. In explaining the phrase, teachers need to focus less on its conceptual meaning and more on the common features of its lexico-syntactical context. Students can then have a checklist of those features that should be present for its appropriate use, which would help them towards correct production in their own writing.