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Academic Writing
6
Academic Writing
Copyright by Gladys Luk 2020
What is
Academic Writing?
What is Academic Writing?
Introduction
Introduction
Question:
Do Hong Kong people like travelling?
Answer 1
Yes, they do. Many people in Hong Kong spend their holidays overseas. They like going to Taiwan, Japan, Korea and European countries such as the UK, France and Italy. Sometimes they go with their families. Sometimes they travel alone.
Answer 2
Yes, they do. Hong Kong people like travelling. According to UNWTO, 87.6 million Hong Kong people travelled abroad in the first half of 2015 and they spent about USD23.6 billion on travelling, making Hong Kong the 4th largest outbound market in Asia and the 14th in the world.
Please compare!
Answer 2
Answer 1
Which one is better? Why?
Yes, they do. Many people in Hong Kong spend their holidays overseas. They like going to Taiwan, Japan, Korea and European countries such as the UK, France and Italy. Sometimes they go with their families. Sometimes they travel alone.
Yes, they do. Hong Kong people like travelling. According to UNWTO, 87.6 million Hong Kong people travelled abroad in the first half of 2015 and they spent about USD23.6 billion on travelling, making Hong Kong the 4th largest outbound market in Asia and the 14th in the world.
Any suggestions?
Comments
Answer 1
Simple sentence pattern
Not clear/ precise enough
Many people in Hong Kong spend their holidays overseas.
Many people in Hong Kong spend their holidays overseas.
Yes, they do. Many people in Hong Kong spend their holidays overseas. They like going to Taiwan, Japan, Korea and European countries such as the UK, France and Italy. Sometimes they go with their families. Sometimes they travel alone.
They like going to Taiwan, Japan, Korea and European countries such as the UK, France and Italy.
How many is 'many'?
Sometimes they go with their families. Sometimes they travel alone.
Any suggestions?
Comments
More complex sentences
Supported by facts and statistics
Clearer and more precise
Answer 2
87.6 million Hong Kong people travelled abroad in the first half of 2015 and
they spent about USD23.6 billion on travelling...
Compound sentence e.g.
87.6 million Hong Kong people travelled abroad in the first half of 2015 and they spent about USD23.6 billion on travelling ...
87.6 million Hong Kong people travelled abroad in the first half of 2015 and
they spent about USD23.6 billion on travelling,
making Hong Kong the 4th largest outbound market in Asia and the 14th in the world.
Yes, they do. Hong Kong people like travelling. According to UNWTO, 87.6 million Hong Kong people travelled abroad in the first half of 2015 and they spent about USD23.6 billion on travelling, making Hong Kong the 4th largest outbound market in Asia and the 14th in the world.
Conclusion
Even though both answers are short, Answer 2 is comparatively more academic.
This is the type of writing that you are expected to write in these 4 years.
What is it?
What is it?
What is Academic Writing?
Academic writing = Formal writing
What is special about Academic writing?
In simple words,
- clearer and more precise
- facts and statistics
- complex sentence structures
What is Academic Writing?
What is more?
Please read the text entitled 'What is Academic Writing?'
What is Academic Writing?
- No slang or colloquial language
- No contracted (short) forms
- Different in terms of choice of words and grammar
- The way of organizing the ideas
- Most importantly, with citation and referencing
What is Academic Writing?
Formality
academics
family and friends
serious thought
conversational
complex sentences showing considerable variety in construction
mostly simple and compound sentences joined by conjunctions such as and or but
clear and well planned
less likely to be clear and as organised
likely to be error free
may not always use complete sentences
Technical and academic language used accurately
use of short forms, idioms and slang
Activity
Activity
Task 2
Put the following texts in order by giving 1 to the most academic and 4 to the least academic
Activity
Answer:
B D C A
Activity
B: the most academic
- From a research book on academic writing
- Complete sentence structure
- High-level vocabulary e.g. reciprocal, empirical, literacy, etc
- Serious thought
- Nomination e.g. development, application
D: the second most academic
Activity
- Being taken from a profile report
- Complex sentences
- Academic vocabulary
- Passives
- In-text citation
Activity
C: a mixture of formal and informal modes
- From an instruction manual
- Passives
- Complex sentences
- Personal pronouns like 'you'
Activity
A: part of a speech or an informal letter or email
- Question-and-answer sequence
- 'Anyway'
- Short forms e.g. it's, I'll
More about
Academic Writing
More about Academic Writing
Academic Writing
Academic writing
Key Characteristics:
- More objective
- More complex
- Has a more formal structure
- More referencing
Academic writing: more objective
Why objective?
Not subjective so more reliable
Academic writing: more objective
Note:
I think/ I believe/ In my opinion
Avoid
People are
- not looking for what you think or believe
- want to see what you can show, demonstrate and prove through evidence
Academic writing: more objective
Compare and comment
I think there are 4 main areas where I can see big differences between standard writing and academic writing.
Generally speaking, there are four main areas where differences between standard writing and academic writing can be seen.
Academic writing: more objective
I think there are 4 main areas where I can see big differences between standard writing and academic writing.
Hedging: Generally speaking - increases the 'distance'
Generally speaking, there are four main areas where differences between standard writing and academic writing can be seen.
Passive voice: removes the need for a subject
There are: provide a platform for objective statements
Academic writing: more objective
Hedging:
- Academics do not want to appear too definite when presenting their arguments
- Avoid being criticised of exaggeration
Also make use of modality
Academic writing: more objective
Examples:
The results of the study may be the consequence of the sampling type adopted.
The results of the study may well be the consequence of the sampling type adopted.
Academic writing: more objective
Examples:
The results of the study are probably the consequence of the sample type adopted.
Academic writing: more objective
The results reported here appear to confirm those reported in Brown (2006).
Students tend, on the whole, to submit satisfactory assignments.
Academic Grammar
Formality of Language
Academic writing
Key Characteristics:
- More objective
- More complex
- Has a more formal structure
- More referencing
Academic writing
More reliable, more trustworthy
In terms of grammar and structure
More objective
More complex
Has a more formal structure
More referencing
In terms of the organization
refer to citation and references to avoid plagiarism
Academic writing: more complex
In terms of formality and grammatical structures
Formality of language:
- big differences vs most significant distinction
*Word choice to convey a high level of formality
look into the issue vs examine the issue
talk about vs discuss
come up with some possible solutions vs
suggest some possible solutions
Academic writing: more complex
More academic word choice
Try to complete the activity
1. He carried out a great deal of research into pollution.
2. She obtained her PhD degree in 2010.
3. One of the key factors in good academic writing is appropriate choice of words, which can help students submit really excellent assignments.
Academic writing: more complex
4. Working hard is essential for university students.
5. The cost of computers has decreased considerably in recent years.
6. Students can eliminate errors in their writing by proofreading carefully.
7. Scientists have recently discovered ways of making plastic biodegradable.
Academic writing: more complex
8. Prices of books have fluctuated wildly over the past five years.
9. In this essay, you are advised to discuss the ways in which cultural background can affect a student's approach to learning.
10. The professor wanted her students to analyse the problems before suggesting possible solutions to them.
Grammatical structure
Grammatical Structure
Passive Voice
Academic writing: more complex
Passive voice:
Maintain effective thematic development
Relevant information stays in focus
Maintain an objective tone
Academic writing: more complex
Example 1:
A student left an assignment in the assembly hall. The cleaner picked it up and handed it in later.
A student; The cleaner
An assignment; It (the assignment)
An assignment was left in the assembly hall. It was picked up and handed in later by the cleaner.
effective thematic development; relevant information in focus
Usual flow: given information followed by new information
Academic writing: more complex
Example 2:
effective thematic development; relevant information in focus
A doctor sends a patient's blood specimen to the laboratory. A technician analyses the specimen in the laboratory. He/she records the results of the analysis. A secretary then types up the results in a report, which he/she sends to the doctor.
Passive voice + relative clauses
A patient's blood specimen is sent to the laboratory, where it is analysed. The results of the analysis are recorded and typed up in a report, which is sent to the (patient's) doctor.
Academic writing: more complex
Passive voice:
Key function: maintain an objective tone
just like lab reports
Remove or play down human involvement
The Department of Health was notified on Monday by Baptist Hospital that a male patient admitted to the hospital the previous day and "scheduled for a surgical operation on October 20" had died.
The cause of death is not known and the case has been submitted to the coroner for follow-up.
It is believed that the dead man suffered from hemorrhoids but this could not be confirmed.
Nominalisation
Academic writing: more complex
Nominalization:
Involves the use of noun forms to express processes
i.e. turning verbs into nouns
- adding suffix to the verb (derivation) e.g.
distribute to distribution
- changing from one part of speech to another without changing the form (conversion) e.g.
attack to attack
Academic writing: more complex
Examples of derivation:
If students develop particular study skills, they can enhance their performance.
The development of particular skills can enhance student performance.
Noun phrase: the development of particular skills
Academic writing: more complex
Examples of conversion:
People use chopsticks, knives and forks because they dislike of eating with fingers.
The use of chopsticks, knives and forks reveals a dislike of eating with fingers.
Removes the need for a subject; avoid using personal pronouns
Density of Language
Lexical Density:
Density of Language
Content words vs function words
Organisation & Referencing
Organisation & referencing
Organisation
Academic Writing: a more formal structure
Structure of an essay:
- Introduction
- Main body
- Conclusion
Academic Writing: a more formal structure
Structure of each paragraph:
- topic sentence
- arguments
- supporting evidence
- short conclusion
- transition to the next paragraph
Academic Writing: a more formal structure
Each paragraph should be more or less the same length.
Coherence and Cohesion
Referencing
Academic Writing: Uses more referencing
Building on the ideas of other people is one of the central features of academic writing.
Academic Writing: Uses more referencing
Compare:
I believe academic English and general English are different for the main reason that they have very different goals.
'Academic English' is differentiated from 'general English' in its focus on 'those communication skills in English which are required for study purposes in formal education systems' (Jordean, 1997:1)