Academic Texts (Types, Structure, Strategies for Reading)

Shorter student texts: essays

essay: a short literary composition on a particular theme or subject, usually in prose and generally analytic, speculative, or interpretative

Case studies

Textbooks

vary in length and formality

most common in disciplines such as business, sociology and law

A case study is a report about a person, group, or situation that has been studied

designed to help the learner

Introduction, Main body, Conclusion

citation of sources

vary in style, tone and level depending on their audience

a book used by students as a standard work for a particular branch of study

a. Context (what is the focus, where, when?)

b. Description of the setting (person, company or place)

c. An account of how this changed over the period of time under investigation

d. Headings help the audience work through the text

a good place to start when learning about a new topic

Research articles

Types of Academic Texts

A research article reports the results of original research, assesses its contribution to the body of knowledge in a given area, and is published in a journal

GENRE

• Recognize the different types of academic text

written mainly for a specialist audience

• Present and explain information
• Persuade the audience to accept a new argument
• Describe a process

typical structure and organizational patterns of a text, its intended audience and its purpose

a. Introduction to the research

b. Literature review

c. Background to the research and method

d. Results or main findings

e. Discussion, including authors' interpretation of the results

f. Recommendations: ideas for future research

g. Conclusion

h. Bibliography

i. Appendix (optional) to give information such as tables of raw data from the research

• Identify the structure, audience and purpose of academic texts

Reports

All texts are written to communicate with a specific audience

describe what happened (e.g. in a piece of research) and discuss and evaluate its importance

At a greater level of detail, the purpose of a particular genre could be to:

A report is a written account of something that one has observed, heard, done, or investigated

• present a claim

• offer citations to support the claim

• provide explanation and examples to help understanding

• evaluate this material

Genre

a style or category of art, music or literature

a. Context/Overview (Title, Contents, etc.)

b. Introduction

c. Methodology/Description of the event (e.g. piece of research)

d. Findings/Main points

e. Discussion/Evaluation

f. Conclusion

The Six Types

What kind of text am I reading?

Longer student texts: dissertations and theses

Master’s level

result of a long period of reading, research and reflection

10,000–20,000 words

Academic Texts:

Types, Structure, and Strategies for Reading

Doctor’s level (PhD)

60,000–80,000 words

a. Introduction

b. Background

c. Literature Review

d. Research Design/Methodology

e. Results/Findings

f. Discussion/Interpretation

g. Recommendations

h. Conclusion