Eapp: Academic Writing

GUIDE QUESTIONS
➤ What is the easiest writing assignment you have done so far?

➤ How about the most difficult writing assignment you have
done?
➤ What do you think made the writing assignment difficult or
easy?
INITIAL QUESTIONS
➤ In your opinion, which texts is an academic text?
➤ Why did you consider it/them an academic text?
➤ After answering the two initial questions on your own,
discuss your answers with your classmates.
ACADEMIC WRITING
➤ Is hard to come by because it refers to writing done for several
reasons. Also, academic writing is used for in many different
forms. Following are characteristics, explanations, and a list of
work where academic writing is used.
CHARACTERISTICS OF ACADEMIC WRITING
• Planning - There is a certain amount of planning before you start
writing the paper; so, it will be analytical and organized.
• Outline - A proper outline is a must for academic writing. An outline
will not only help you formulate your thoughts, but will sometimes
make you aware of certain relationships between topics. It will help
you determine the pertinent information to be included in your paper.
• Tone - A formal tone is used. You do not use slang words, jargon,
abbreviations, or many clichés.
• Language - The language in your paper needs to be clear and
words need to be chosen for their precision. A thesaurus is a good
tool to help you pick just the right words to explain the issues.
• Point-of-view - The point of view in the third person, as the focus of
academic writing is to educate on the facts, not support an opinion.
• Approach - Deductive reasoning is a big part of academic writing as
your readers have to follow the path that brought you to your
conclusion.
ACADEMIC WRITING STRUCTURE
• INTRODUCTION: In the introduction, you must grab the reader’s attention and
identify the thesis of the paper. You can do this by starting with:
• Several questions
• A quote from a famous work or person
• Some interesting facts or information
• A definition of an important term related to the work
• BODY: This is the main part of the work and the paragraphs must be clearly written
and be arranged in a logical order, like chronologically or in order of importance.
Each initial sentence links the preceding paragraph and the whole section flows
smoothly.
Within each paragraph, the sentences need to flow and refer back to the topic.
Cohesion is achieved by repeating important words, using synonyms for the main
subject, and using transitional words like: however, such as, therefore, and for example.
• CONCLUSION: In the conclusion, you re-emphasize the thesis and summarize all
the main points. The conclusion consists of one paragraph which shows the final
conclusion to the reader.
Features of academic writing
Introduction
Academic writing in English is linear, which means it has one central point
or theme with every part contributing to the main line of argument, without
digressions or repetitions. Its objective is to inform rather than entertain. As
well as this it is in the standard written form of the language.There are ten
main features of academic writing that are often discussed. Academic
writing is to some extent: complex, formal, objective, explicit, hedged, and
responsible. It uses language precisely and accurately. It is also well
organised and planned.
Complexity
Written language is relatively more complex than spoken language. Written
language has longer words, it is lexically more dense and it has a more
varied vocabulary. It uses more noun-based phrases than verb-based
phrases. Written texts are shorter and the language has more grammatical
complexity, including more subordinate clauses and more passives.
Formality
Academic writing is relatively formal. In general this means that
in an essay you should avoid colloquial words and expressions.
Precision
In academic writing, facts and figures are given precisely.
Objectivity
Written language is in general objective rather than personal. It
therefore has fewer words that refer to the writer or the reader.
This means that the main emphasis should be on the information
that you want to give and the arguments you want to make,
rather than you. For that reason, academic writing tends to use
nouns (and adjectives), rather than verbs (and adverbs).
Explicitness
Academic writing is explicit about the relationships int he text. Furthermore, it is
the responsibility of the writer in English to make it clear to the reader how the
various parts of the text are related. These connections can be made explicit by
the use of different signalling words.
Accuracy
Academic writing uses vocabulary accurately. Most subjects have words with
narrow specific meanings. Linguistics distinguishes clearly between "phonetics"
and "phonemics"; general English does not.
Hedging
In any kind of academic writing you do, it is necessary to make decisions about
your stance on a particular subject, or the strength of the claims you are making.
Different subjects prefer to do this in different ways.
A technique common in certain kinds of academic writing is known by linguists
as a ‘hedge’.
Responsibility
In academic writing you must be responsible for, and must be able
to provide evidence and justification for, any claims you make. You
are also responsible for demonstrating an understanding of any
source texts you use.
Organisation
Academic writing is well organised. It flows easily from one section
to the next in a logical fashion. A good place to start is the genre of
your text. Once you have decided on the genre, the structure is
easily determined..
Planning
Academic writing is well planned. It usually takes place after
research and evaluation, according to a specific purpose and plan.

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GUIDE QUESTIONS

➤ What is the easiest writing assignment you have done so far?

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