ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND

PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES
MELCS: The learner differentiates language used in Academic text from various disciplines
Semester:________1ST____________ Week No._______________ Day:________
Lesson: Reading Academic Text

In your academic journey, you are required to submit written texts – critical essays, reports,
research papers, and more. This lesson will help you gain functional knowledge on the requirements of
writing texts across disciplines. This will enable you to improve your academic writing style and your ability
to read academic texts. This lesson contains tasks that develop your competencies in writing effective
academic texts essential in various fields and for future professions. It is geared towards helping you gain
knowledge, enhance skills in reading and writing an academic text, and develop critical thinking. The
discussion is grounded on the definition of academic text, its essential components, some illuminating
examples, and critical reading strategies to understand the whole text's content better.
u have______________________________________________________________________________________

Topic 1: ACADEMIC TEXT VS NONACADEMIC TEXT

What is an Academic Text?
According to Barrot and Sipacio (2016), Academic text is a formally structured written material that
critically discusses a concept using extensive knowledge and research.

This kind of writing is usually scholarly texts that revolve in concepts, ideas, theories, problems, and
solutions that are related to the specific discipline

Academic Text vs. Nonacademic Text

Academic text can be differentiated from a nonacademic text in terms of five aspects: authorship,
language, citation, duration, and purpose.

Academic Nonacademic
Authorship Experts/Professionals Anyone/experts/non-experts
Inform, Argue, Persuade (with Entertain, inform, persuade, argue
Purpose
evidence) (even without evidence)
Audience Academe/ Scholarly audience Public/non-specified audience
Structure Formal Non-standard/not rigid
Formal, Discipline-specific,
Can be formal or informal,
Language objective, hedged, complex,
freestyle, subjective
explicit

Why should we recognize types of academic texts?

- There is a variety of types
- They are meant for different purposes
- They are written and used in different ways
- They have various reliability

1
Below are some examples of Academic Texts

ACADEMIC TEXT DESCRIPTION

These texts aim to condense more extensive work to

present only the key ideas precisely. They tell the
ABSTRACT, PRECIS, SUMMARY
audience/reader the gist of what has been read, listened
to, or viewed.

They are specialized forms of writing in which a reviewer

REACTION PAPER, REVIEW, CRITIQUE or reader evaluates any of the following: A scholarly
work, a work of art, designs, graphic designs, etc.

Before submitting a project proposal, proponents are

requested to submit a summary of what the project is all
about, the reasons for conducting the project, and how it
CONCEPT PAPER will be carried out. Concept paper provides an overview
of the project, and help funding agencies eliminate
proposal that is e likely to be disapproved. Hence, it helps
save time and effort for both the proponents and the
funding agencies.
A Position paper presents the writer's stand or viewpoint
POSITION PAPER on a particular issue. Writings a position paper entails
outlining arguments and proposing a course of action.
It is an academic text ideally done to generate and
RESEARCH PAPER contribute new ideas or perspectives to a given field of
study.
This is an informative report that discusses a book from
an objective stance. This focuses more on a summary of
BOOK REPORT the work. It commonly describes what happened in work.
Focus is primarily on giving an account of the central plot,
character, thesis, and main idea of the work.

To further understand academic text, let us look into its components.

FOUR (4) ASPECTS OF WRITING

A. AUDIENCE - As you consider the purpose of reading and writing an academic text, you
should also keep in mind that a writer of an academic text has an intended audience when he or she
writes
a text. The following are factors about your audience that you need to take into account

Gender Educational background Professional background Religious background

Knowledge about the
Age Interest Social status
topic
For example, the younger the audience, the shorter the texts and the simpler the vocabulary words. The
older the audience, the longer the text, and the more complicated the vocabulary words. Academic
journals cater to a specific discipline. There are journals or magazines for those in the hospitality industry,
for communication specialists, business people, politicians, academicians, scientists, and soon. These
publications cater to a specific group of people.

2
 A reader can tell to whom the text is written based on different factors such as:
Vocabulary used The length of sentences the nature of the topic
The way the topic is
The depth of discussion Word choice
presented
The tone

Important things to remember:

As a writer, your audience is not whoever reads the text or even simply your instructor.
Instead, the audience is the group of people you want to educate or persuade.

According to Saqueto and Uychoco (2016), knowing the audience for a particular text is
important because it determines the content in writing. The content will vary depending
on the intended audience.

B. PURPOSE - It is imperative to know that every time an author writes a text, he or she has a goal
of informing or persuading an audience or simply arguing about or expressing an idea. Similarly,
when you read academic text, you must know your purpose early on.

As a writer As a reader
Why am I writing this? What knowledge do I Why am I reading this? What pieces of
want to impart? information do I need? What do I want to
- To persuade learn?
- To inform - To better understand the topic
- To express - To identify gaps in studies
- To connect new and old ideas

Three (3) general purposes of Writing:

1. To persuade (factual information +evidence+personal evaluation)

Two goals to persuade
a. to make your audience change their mind
b. to make your audience do certain action/ to compel them to act

Example 1: An article that talks about the importance of having proper nutrition everyday to
prevent diseases. This article may convince your audience to stop eating junk food and change their eating
habits into a healthy one.

Example 2: When you write an article about protecting snakes and alligators because they help
keep marine life in balance. Your audience/readers may not “literally” go out to protect these animals but in
their minds, they are convinced that what you have written is true, and they will have a positive view about
safety and protection of these animals.

3
 2. To inform (factual information+evidence)
- aims to give information only
- requires a lot of research to build credibility as a writer
- compares sources and cites sources properly to avoid plagiarism
- presents in organized, fresh, interesting way

3. To express
- engage readers’ emotions such as joy, anger, frustrations, etc.
- has more opinions than fact

C. TOPIC - What topic is suitable for my audience? What topic will benefit them? What pieces of
information will help them improve their lives? What details am I imparting to my audience?

D. ROLE AS A WRITER – Who am I as a writer? Do I write as a teacher? A friend? A guidance

councelor? or a concerned individual? Knowing your role as a writer helps you present your text
effectively and elicit appropriate response from your readers/audience.

Reflect on the learning that you gained after taking this lesson by completing the chart below.

What were your

misconceptions about the topic
before taking up this lesson?

In terms of skills, content, and

attitude, what new or additional
learning have you gained after
taking up this lesson?

CO QAH + MELC LW LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET No. 01

4
 in ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND
Course Outline & Quality
Assured Handouts paired with PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES
MELC-Based Learner's
Worksheets Quarter _____
01 Week ______
01

Name: ____________________________________ Grade and Section: __________________________

Teacher: __________________________________ Date of Submission: _________________________

MELCS: The learner differentiates language used in Academic text from various disciplines
Lesson: Reading Academic Text
References: (refer to handout no. 1)

I. Read the following text excerpts. After each text excerpt is read, determine whether it is an excerpt from
an academic text or an excerpt from a nonacademic text. On the space provided before the text, write AT if
it is from an academic text and write NAT if otherwise.

______Excerpt 1 Given that the influence of mobile technologies on tweeting patterns has been
understudied, the researchers sought to bridge this gap by examining whether tweets from mobile and
web-based sources differ significantly in their linguistic styles.

______Excerpt 2 This study examines the viewpoints of Macau and Singapore residents on the
development of casino gambling and the social, economic, and environmental impacts that are thought to
arise.

______Excerpt 3 Using celebrities in advertising dates back to the late nineteenth century, and this
common advertising practice has drawn a considerable amount of academic and practical attention. Most
academic investigations of celebrity endorsement have been contextualized in the realm of source
credibility and attractiveness model, and suggest that celebrities exert their influence on consumers
through perceptive attributes such as expertise, trustworthiness, attractiveness, familiarity, and likability
(Ohanina 1990, 1991)

______Excerpt 4 In the evenings, I would lie in bed, listening to the music from the cocktail lounge
downstairs, and to the quick footsteps muffled by the carpet n the hall, imagining the dancing and laughter,
and wishing I were group up and part of it all

______Excerpt 5 In High School, I discovered the perilous thrill of chasing after girls. Going to soirees,
meeting them, getting their phone numbers, calling them up – how crazy it all was, to daydream an entire
afternoon away, my books on the living room coffee table, my head in the clouds. The studying could go to
hell as my mind floated in its hormone-induced bliss. It was a heady time, reveling in the rush of taking
risks, then wallowing in the crushing despair of rejection.

5
 Assessment

II. Multiple Choice. Encircle the letter of the best answer

1. The following are examples of Academic text EXCEPT
a. essay
b. poem
c. research paper
d. critique
2. The following are reasons of recognizing types of academic texts EXCEPT
a. They are used in different ways
b. They are written in different ways
c. There is only one type of text
d. They are meant for different purposes
3. The following statements are true about the content, structure, and style of Academic texts
EXCEPT
a. Academic texts need not provide facts and evidence from credible sources
b. Academic texts practice proper citation and referencing
c. Academic texts use precise and accurate words while avoiding jargon and colloquial
expressions
d. Academic text exhibits all the properties of a well-written text
4. The following are types of Academic Texts, EXCEPT
a. Novel
b. Thesis
c. Concept paper
d. Research paper
5. The following are factors about your audience that you need to take into account EXCEPT
a. Social Status
b. Knowledge about the topic
c. Interest
d. Parents opinion

Write T if the statement is true and F if it is false.

_____T_____1. Academic reading requires concentration and comprehension.
_____T_____2. Academic texts are completely different from non-academic texts in terms of structure,
content, and style.
_____T_____3. Authors of academic texts usually present facts to support their main argument.
_____T_____4. Critical reading strategies lead the readers to a full understanding of the text.
_____T_____5. One has to determine his/her purpose before writing academic text.
_____T_____6. Successful readers of academic texts generally integrate valuable information or ideas
from one source to another.
_____T_____7. Academic Text writers have general purposes in writing: to persuade, to inform, and to
express.
_____T_____8. As a writer, your audience is not whoever reads the text or even simply your instructor.
Instead, the audience is the group of people you want to educate or persuade.
__________9. Knowing the audience for a particular text is important because it determines the content in
writing. The content will vary depending on the intended audience.
__________10. As an informative writer, you need to compare sources and cite sources properly to avoid
plagiarism

6
Let’s Practice
Read the following excerpt from the conclusion of Dhiraj et al’s study. To understand the text
better, apply any reading strategy that you are familiar with

Given that the influence of mobile technologies on tweeting patterns has been understudied, the
researchers sought to bridge this gap by examining whether tweets from mobile and web-based sources
differ significantly in their linguistic styles. The researchers studied six weeks of Twitter spritzer stream
data, containing 235 million tweets. We focused on the analysis of tweets by source- specifically mobile
versus web-based sources by time of day. This involved evaluating several categories or subsets in
which mobile sources. We used word lists from social psychology to test for level of egocentricity,
gender style, emotional content, and agency in both mobile and web tweets.
Ultimately, we found that mobile tweets are not only more egocentric in language than any other
group, but that the ration of egocentric to nonegocentric tweets is consistently greater for mobile tweets
than from nonmobile sources. We did not find that mobile tweets were particularly gendered.
Regardless of platform, tweets tended to employ words traditionally associated as masculine. We did
find that negative language is used more frequently by mobile users ta any point in time, a finding that
would benefit from further research. The ration of negative to positive unigrams was also found to be
consistently greater for mobile tweet than web tweets. Lastly, we did not find that mobile-based tweets
are more agentic than web-based tweets. Rather, both platforms tended to employ language that was
communal behaviors.

Source: Do We Tweet Differently from Our Mobile Devices? A Study of Language Differences on Mobile
and Web-based Twitter Platform http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.111/jcom.12176/pdf

Then, do the following:

1. Read the article with your purpose in mind
2. Using a minimum of 150 words, and a maximum of 200 words, evaluate the text in terms of its
purpose, audience, role of the writer and topic

Answer:

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

Prepared by:
KRESTA YSOBELLE C. GANTUANGCO – SHST II