Academic Writing Lecture One

Introduction to Business
communication/Academic Writing
OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE
• Demonstrate effective academic writing skills
• Cite academic materials correctly and write
references accurately
• Perform a literature search effectively by using
various search engines
CONT……
• demonstrate skills in public speaking and
handling interviews
• Understand the processes of effective
communication
Course structure
Academic writing stream Business communication
• Note taking • Process of communication
• Plagiarism and academic • Channels of communication
integrity • Written communication
• Summarising and • Oral communication
paraphrasing • Non-verbal communication
• Types of essays • Communication techniques
• Assignment writing • Basic computer skills
• Literature search • Basic computer security
• Citation and referencing
What is communication?
• Taylor (2005:4) defines communication
as: “the process of giving, receiving or
exchanging information, opinions or
ideas, by writing, speech or visual means
so that the message communicated is
completely understood by the recipient
(s).”
• Communication is the process of sending and
receiving information using previously agreed
upon symbols in order to produce a desired
response. ii.
• Communication is the art of imparting or
exchanging of information
Process of communication
Communication process
• 1. The sender/The encoder/transmitter The
sender is the source of the message. The
sender initiates the process of
communication-whenever the sender feels
there is a need to communicate some
information to the other (receiver) he/she
starts the process of communication.
• 2. Encoding: Encoding is the process in which
the sender puts the information into a form
suitable for sending.
• 3. The medium serves as means of
communication it can be written, oral or
nonverbal.
• The channel : refers to the means of transmitting a
message from the sender to the receiver. For
example, for oral communication the channel could
be the telephone system, personal interviews,
meetings, and so on;
• for written communication, the channel could be a
notice board, messenger’s services, and postal
services, etc and
• for visual communication,n the channel could be
body language, a drawing, etc.
• 4 The Recipient : is the target of the message.
The recipient may be an individual, a group
(such as a committee), or the general public in
the case of an advertising campaign.
• 5. Decoding : is the process by which the
recipient interprets the meaning of the
message. Depending on other factors, the
meaning may or may not be the same as the
interpretation originally intended by the
sender.
• 6. Feedback : is the response or reaction the
recipient gives which indicates to the sender
how the message was interpret
What is academic writing?
• It is the style of expression used by
researchers or scholars to define and explain
the intellectual boundaries of their disciplines
• Academic writing is a formal style of writing

used in universities and scholarly publications
Types of academic writing
I. Student academic writing: is used as a form
of assessment at university, as well as at
schools as preparation for university study
II. Expert academic writing: It is writing that is
intended for publication in an academic
journal or book
Features of academic writing
• Academic writing focus on conveying
agreed meaning about complex ideas or
concepts for a group of scholarly experts
Features of academic writing
1. structured
2. evidenced
3. critical
4. balanced
5. precise
6. objective
7. formal.
Structured
• Academic writing should have a clear
structure. The structure will often derive
from the genre of writing. For example, an
assignment has the following parts
• 1. introduction
• 2.main body
• 3. conclusion
• 4. References
Evidenced
• Opinions and arguments in academic
writing should be supported by evidence.
• Often the writing will be based on
information from experts in the field, and as
such, it will be important to reference the
information appropriately, for example, the
use of in-text citations and a reference list.
• Uphold academic integrity and avoid
plagiarism
Critical
• Academic writing does more than just describe. As
an academic writer, you should not simply accept
everything you read as fact.
• You need to analyse and evaluate the information
you are writing about, in other words make
judgements about it, before you decide whether
and how to integrate it into your own writing.
• Critical writing requires a great deal of research in
Balanced
• This means giving consideration to all sides
of the issue and avoiding bias. As noted
above, all research, evidence and arguments
can be challenged, and it is important for
the academic writer to show their stance on
a particular topic, in other words how
strong their claims are.
Objective
• Academic writing is objective. In other
words, the emphasis is placed on the
arguments and information, rather than on
the writer’s emotional tone
• For example phases such as the evidence
suggests... or this could be caused by..., or
boosters, that is, phrases such as clearly or
the research indicates, rightly points out that
• Objective reasoning demands that even
when you are asked to express your own
point of view in the assignment, opinions
are always evidence based.
Precise
use clear and precise language to ensure the
reader understands the meaning.
This includes the use of subject-specific
vocabulary and clear language that can be
readily understood by the reader
Formal
• Finally, academic writing is more formal
than everyday writing. It tends to use longer
words and more complex sentences, while
avoiding contractions and colloquial or
informal words or expressions that might be
common in spoken English.
• Formal tone and word choice adopted in
other professions
Why learn academic writing:?
• To help students learn and master the skills

of writing and presenting academic papers
such as assignments, academic and business
reports
• To avoid poetic, fiction and journalistic
presentation of academic work because
academic writing is formal and logical.
cont
• To enable students investigate the research
problem from an authoritative point of view
and state the arguments confidently using
neutral language
• Appropriate use of specialised terminologies:
academicians use the technical language
appropriate to the area of study and conscious
of using professional jargons of words.
Difference between academic
writing and General writing
ACADEMIC WRITING GENERAL WRITNG
• Academic writing focuses • General writing may contain
on a specific discipline or content on any topic or may
field. be based on some
imaginative or creative
prose, among other things.
• It is usually has a specific • Anyone can go for any
set of audience/ reader who general written topics
belongs to the same field on because there is no specific
which the academic writing audience or readership.
is based on
• It focuses on more • It focuses on more common

academic/subjective words words suitable to the general
related to the topic. topic.
• It sticks to/follows a It follows the artistic
standard structured unstructured format
format.
It may be a formal
• It is always formal
or informal way of
way of writing.
• objective, concise writing.
language and It is subjective and
impersonal personal
• It always uses referencing and • It does not usually use
citation. referencing and citations.
• In academic writing, the writer
is expected to support his
argument by citing evidence
from other sources. However,
this evidence from other
sources always has to be
properly attributed according
to an accepted style guide such
as APA, MLA,
Chicago and Harvard referenci
• It is also more complex than • It depends on the writer’s
general writing and may presentation of information
consist of technical jargon
• Academic Writing does not • General Writing can use
use slang.- slang.
criticize (someone) in an
abusive and insulting manner
Exercise 1
• . Define communication.
• Using an illustration, explain the
communication process.
• Differantiate between academic writing and
general writing

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Introduction to Business

• Academic writing is a formal style of writing

• To help students learn and master the skills

• It focuses on more • It focuses on more common

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