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Module 1 LAS

Academic writing is formal, objective, and impersonal. It relies heavily on research and evidence to inform readers on a topic within a specific field of study. Academic writing uses precise language and cites sources to back claims. In contrast, non-academic writing is more informal, personal, and focuses on entertainment or persuasion over research. It uses casual language and does not typically cite sources. Academic language features formality, objectivity, impersonality, and precision to clearly communicate ideas and arguments to an educated audience.

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28 views

Module 1 LAS

Academic writing is formal, objective, and impersonal. It relies heavily on research and evidence to inform readers on a topic within a specific field of study. Academic writing uses precise language and cites sources to back claims. In contrast, non-academic writing is more informal, personal, and focuses on entertainment or persuasion over research. It uses casual language and does not typically cite sources. Academic language features formality, objectivity, impersonality, and precision to clearly communicate ideas and arguments to an educated audience.

Uploaded by

Gabriella Angeles
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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SHS ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES (EAPP),

(Language Used in Academic Texts)

Name: ______________________________________ Score: ______________


Grade and Section: ____________________________ Date: _______________

What is Academic Writing?


Academic writing is a formal and rather impersonal mode of writing that is intended for a scholarly
audience. It tends to depend heavily on research, factual evidence, and opinions of educated
researchers and scholars. Scholarly essays, research papers, dissertations, etc. are some examples of
academic writing. All these types of writings have rigid structure and layout, which include an
introduction, thesis, overview of topics discussed, and a well-written conclusion. The main aim of
academic writing is to inform the audience while providing non-biased information and backing up the
writer’s claims with solid evidence.
Moreover, academic writing heavily contains vocabulary typical to a specific field. Citations and a list
of references or sources are another important features in academic writing. Moreover, the tone in
academic writing should always be objective and formal.
Each subject discipline will have certain writing conventions, vocabulary, and types of discourse that
you will become familiar with over the course of your degree. However, there are some general
characteristics of academic writing that are relevant across all disciplines.

Some Tips for Academic Writing Always use formal language.


 Avoid using colloquialisms or slang.
 Don’t use contractions (shortened verb forms).
 Use the third-person point of view and avoid the first-person point of view.
 Don’t pose questions; convert the questions into statements.
 Avoid exaggerations or hyperbole.
 Don’t make sweeping generalizations Be clear and concise and avoid repeating.

What is Non-Academic Writing?


Non-academic writing is writing that is not intended for an academic audience. They are written for a
lay audience or the mass public. This type of writing may be personal, impressionistic, emotional, or
subjective in nature.
The language in non-academic writing is informal or casual. Some types of non-academic writing
may even contain slang. Newspaper articles, memoirs, magazine articles, personal or business letters,
novels, websites, text messages, etc. are some examples of non-academic writing. The content of these
writings is often a general topic, unlike academic writing, which mainly focuses on a specific field.
Furthermore, the main aim of a piece of non-academic writing is to inform, entertain or persuade the
readers.
Most non-academic writings do not include references, citations or a list of sources. Nor are they
extensively well-researched as academic writing. Moreover, non-academic writing often does not have a
rigid structure as academic writing. It is often free-flowing and reflects the style and personality of the
writer.
Examples of non-academic texts are the following:
1. Email messages
2. Personal opinions
3. Newspapers
4. Magazine
5. Blog article

Point of view of the non-academic text


Subjective and personal – It is based on personal opinions and feeling rather than on facts that
come from reliable sources.
Asking rhetorical questions – It is self-evident and used for style as an impressive persuasive
device. It may have an obvious answer, but the questioner asks it to lay emphasis on the point.

What is academic language?


Academic language is the language used in the classroom and workplace, the language of text, the
language of assessments, the language of academic success, and the language of power.
The term academic language may be used to refer to formal English rules, structure, and content for
academic dialogue and text and the communicative conventions that allow students to meet the
demands of school environments.
“Academic English is the language of the classroom, of academic disciplines (science, history,
literary analysis), of texts and literature, and of extended reasoned discourse. It is more abstract and
decontextualized than conversational English” (Gersten, Baker, Shanahan, Linan-Thompson, Collins,&
Scarcella, 2007, p. 16)

Features of Academic Language


Academic language has a unique set of rules: it should be explicit, formal and factual as well as
objective and analytical in nature. Students often think that academic language should sound complex
and be difficult to write and understand but that is not necessarily the case. Instead, academic writing
should be clear and concise in order to communicate its contents in the best way. It is important to
remember that academic texts are written with an academic audience in mind and your writing style
needs to conform to the conventions of the field you are studying.
The language used at university has various features that distinguish it from the language styles
used in other contexts. Consider the language used in novels, conversations, newspapers, or law courts.
Each has its own style, with varying degrees of formality and objectivity. Academic language is:
formal
objective
impersonal
precise
These features ensure that ideas and arguments are communicated in a clear, convincing, and
professional manner.

Formal
Formal writing requires considerable effort to construct meaningful sentences, paragraphs, and
arguments that make the text easy to comprehend. Choose words precisely and carefully so that the
reader can accurately understand the concepts within the text.
The tone used in academic writing is usually formal, meaning that it should not sound conversational
or casual. You should particularly avoid colloquial, idiomatic, slang, or journalistic expressions in favor of
precise vocabulary. Informal and colloquial language is often imprecise, so is open to misinterpretation,
and can be inaccessible to non-native English speakers.
Academic writing requires that you use full forms rather than contractions. For example, write ‘do
not’ instead of ‘don't’, ‘it is’ instead of ‘it's’, ‘they have’ instead of ‘they've’, and ‘we will’ instead of ‘we'll’.

Objective
Academic writing is based on research and not on the writer’s own opinion about a given topic.
When you write objectively, you are concerned about facts and not influenced by personal feelings or
biases. When presenting an argument to the reader, try to show both sides if you can and avoid making
value judgments.
At the same time, you will probably have to do an analysis or a discussion. In order to convey
attitude without using for example “I think”, you may use words such as “apparently,” “arguably,”
“ideally,” “strangely” and “unexpectedly.” Note that the attitude you are expressing should not be based
on personal preferences but rather on the evidence that you are presenting.

Impersonal
Academic language is impersonal in that you generally do not refer to yourself as the performer of
actions. This involves avoiding the personal pronouns ‘I’ and ‘we’. For example, instead of writing ‘I will
show’, you might write ‘this report will show’. The second person, ‘you’, is also to be avoided.
Avoiding personal pronouns
If you need to avoid using the first or second person, in your writing, here are some ways of doing it:
Using passive voice:
‘We administered the questionnaire...’ (active voice)
‘The questionnaire was administered...’ (passive voice)
Using third person:
‘I discovered that…’ becomes ‘Research reveals that…’
‘We can see that….’ becomes ‘It is evident that…’
Making things rather than people the subject of sentences:
‘I show...’ becomes ‘The report shows...’
‘I interpret the results as...’ becomes ‘The results indicate...’

PRECISE
The facts are presented accurately. The choice of words is appropriate. The use of technical terms
to achieve precision is applied.

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