This document provides guidance on academic English skills. It discusses the importance of precision, conciseness, objectivity and evidence-based writing. It offers tips for citing sources using APA style and developing academic vocabulary. It also provides guidance on structuring paragraphs, using sources through quotations and summarization, and avoiding common grammar mistakes. Key points covered include developing an objective and evidence-based writing style, properly citing sources, understanding unfamiliar academic vocabulary through context, and writing well-structured paragraphs that clearly address the main topic.

1. ACADEMIC ENGLISH
Martin McMorrow
Learning Advisor, Centre for Teaching and Learning

2. Part 1
CTL Services
Academic Style
Citations and References
Academic Vocabulary
Part 2
Using sources
Structuring paragraphs
Grammar mistakes to avoid

3. CENTRE FOR TEACHING AND
LEARNING SERVICES
Selected online resources
http://tinyurl.com/6xy9hy Academic English podcast
http://tinyurl.com/ctlvideos Video Presentations
http://owll.massey.ac.nz online writing and learning link

4. ACADEMIC STYLE
Ordinary English
Ageism is when someone is treated badly just because they’re
young or old and it’s a lot more common than people think. What
matters most isn’t whether or not someone’s treated differently
but whether it’s unfair to treat them differently in the
circumstances. You couldn’t call a bar ageist if they didn’t take on a
16 year-old for the job because they’re not allowed to have a
teenager working for them. But it’s obvious that a bar that
wouldn’t give a job to a 50 year old to serve drinks is being ageist if
that person was good enough in every way except for the fact that
he or she was older. This sort of thing is incredibly common, even
in New Zealand.

5. Academic English
Ageism may be defined as “unfair discrimination towards someone
on account of their age” (Smith & Davidov, 2003, p. 104). The
crucial aspect is not discrimination in itself, but its unfairness. It
could not be claimed that a bar was being ageist for refusing to
employ a 16 year-old, since they are legally prohibited from doing
so. However, a bar which refused to employ a 50 year old to serve
drinks could be considered ageist, if that person fulfilled the
employment specifications in every other respect. Recent research
has found evidence of such practices, where age is used as an
unjustified barrier to employment or promotion, in over half of
New Zealand employers (Brown, 2012).

6. Academic English is:
precise
Ageism happens when …. Ageism may be defined as ….
concise
when someone is treated badly unfair discrimination
objective
you could hardly say that … It could not be claimed that …
evidence-based
This sort of thing is incredibly Recent research has found …
common, even in New Zealand. (Brown, 2012).

7. CITATIONS AND REFERENCES
Citations are a short way of indicating the source of your
theories, models, concepts, examples or facts
In APA style, all you need to do is to put the author and date of
publication of the book, article or website you used
The most common way to do this is to put these in brackets
AFTER you’ve used the information
Recent research has found evidence of such
practices, where age is used as an unjustified barrier
to employment or promotion, in over half of New
Zealand employers (Brown, 2012).

8. As an alternative you can use ‘according to’ and
include the author(s) in your sentence
According to Brown (2012), older employees provide
three main benefits for organisations. The first of
these is ….
Or make the author(s) the subject of your sentence,
choosing an appropriate reporting verb, for example:
claim argue explain suggest point out find / found
Brown (2012) found that age is used as an unjustified
barrier to employment or promotion in over half of
New Zealand employers.

9. Your citations need to match up with complete
references to sources in a list at the end
References
Brown, P. (2012). Equal opportunities in New Zealand: Myth or reality? Australasian Journal
of Human Resources, 41(3), 46-68.
Davidson, C., & Tolich, M. (2001). Social science research in New Zealand. Auckland, New
Zealand: Pearson Education.
Khan, I., & Chen, T. (2010). Tackling ageism: A cross-institutional approach. In J. Johnson & T.
Peterson (Eds.), An equal opportunities handbook (pp. 102-131). San Francisco, CA:
Pilot Press.
Atkinson, D. (2013, January 24). Too old to work: Too young to die? Retrieved from
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/1004532.htm
Smith, P., & Davidoff, R. (2003). Equal opportunities: From policy to practice. Central Islip, NY:
Progressive Press.
Statistics New Zealand. (2008). Demographic Trends – 2001-2006. Retrieved from
http://stats.govt.nz/demotrends-2012.pdf

10. In academic writing, most references are to
books and journal articles
surname,
(year) title of book
initial
Smith, P., & Davidoff, R. (2003). Equal opportunities: From policy to
practice. Central Islip, NY: Progressive Press.
city publisher
surname,
(year) title of article
initial
Brown, P. (2012). Equal opportunities in New Zealand: Myth or
reality? Australasian Journal of Human Resources, 41(3), 46-68.
name of journal volume / issue number page numbers

11. ACADEMIC ENGLISH
VOCABULARY
1) It’s difficult to define the con_ _ _ _ of beauty.
concept
2) The internet gives you instant acc_ _ _ to information.
access
3) Evolution explains how simple animals developed into more
com_ _ _ _ ones over a long period of time.
complex
4) Come to the meeting if you feel you have anything
to con_ _ _ _ _ _ _ to the discussion.
contribute
5) We are not really in competition with them, but there
are a few ove_ _ _ _ _ between our products.
overlaps

12. draft
6) She asked me to check the first dra_ _ of her presentation.
7) The final cost of the project should not exc_ _ _
exceed $10 000.
8) It’s impossible to eli_ _ _ _ _ _ crime completely, but this government
eliminate
aims to reduce it substantially.
9) Financial experts have det_ _ _ _ _ some signs that the economy
detected
may be improving.
10) No agreement has been reached but negotiations are still ong_ _ _ _.
ongoing

13. 11) One reason that increasing numbers of goods are manufactured in South-East Asian
is the lower lab_ _ _ costs there.
labour
infer
12) We have to inf_ _ from his silence on the matter that he has comment to make.
survey
13) A recent sur_ _ _ found that more than 60 % of workers were
dissatisfied with their managers.
14) We had to make several calls to the tec_ _ _ _ _ _ support line before
technical
anyone came to repair out computer.
15) We all ass_ _ _ _ _ _ in the meeting room to hear the takeover news.
assembled

14. 16) The company publishes its ann_ _ _
annual accounts every September.
17) At the moment we don’t ant_ _ _ _ _ _ _ any problems with the new system.
anticipate
18) The internet has become an important med_ _ _
medium of communication for companies.
crucial
19) Her work has been a cru_ _ _ _ part of the company’s success.
20) Unemployment will be one of the most important issues _ in the next election.
iss_ _

15. SOME MORE ADVANCED ACADEMIC VOCABULARY (featured in the
Academic English Podcast)
The mattress contains over 50 internal supports to provide
rigi _ _ _ _, while the luxurious foam filling provides comfort.
rigidity
The President used the full range of her rhet _ _ _ _ _ _ skills to
rhetorical
persuade reluctant senators to back her economic recovery plan
Given the uncertain financial situation in Europe, this may not be an
ausp _ _ _ _ _ _ time to be opening a new retail business there
auspicious
Having grown up during a period of aust _ _ _ _ _, in later years
austerity
he found it hard to tolerate any waste.
As criminals become more resourceful, knowledgeable or
desperate, security firms and the police need increasingly
inge _ _ _ _ _ means of preventing and detecting crime.
ingenious

16. Strategies for dealing with unfamiliar vocabulary in
your academic reading
high Look it up, file it in your system
with an example sentence. Review it
at the end of the day and week
look it up to confirm and move on
future
relevance
work out meaning and move on
ignore
low

17. An application of this strategy to vocabulary
from Chapter 1 of a Business Law book.
presumption
Important concepts for
disseminate this subject (business law)
flora and fauna
disclose
validity
Important concepts for
derived all academic research,
nomenclature analysis, argument etc
solecisms
arbitrary
adherents

18. Practice in working out meaning of unfamiliar
vocabulary
“adequate research of overseas markets is … one of
several prerequisites for international marketing success”
things that will make a profit
things that must be done
things that will surprise you

19. “If you watch a Yoplait advertisement that shows other
people enjoying a new yoghurt flavour, you might
conclude that you would like it too. For services, such
vicarious learning is essential, as consumers can rarely
assess the benefit directly and have to rely on the
experience of others…”
enjoyable
second-hand
conclusive

20. SUMMARY OF PART 1
• Aim to develop a precise, concise, objective
and evidence-based writing style
• Use Massey resources and workshops to get
your referencing right
• Review and practice your basic academic
vocabulary
• Work out meaning of new vocabulary
from context whenever possible
• Ignore new vocabulary that is not important in
your subject

21. PART 2
• Using sources
• Structuring paragraphs
• Evaluating paragraphs
• Grammar mistakes to avoid

22. USING SOURCES
Quotations
1) Only quote definitions:
The concept of comparative advantage states that “everyone does best when
each concentrates on the activity for which he or she is relatively most
productive” (Frank & Bernanke, 2001, p. 23).
2) ..... or really memorable phrases:
As Mundell (2002, p. 4) argued, “If it’s right for Europe to scrap its national
currencies, why is it wrong for other countries to do the same thing?”
And, as in the above examples, copy as few words as possible and put
these inside “ “ after your own introductory phrase.

23. Complete the following sentence, using the source
below, including the correct punctuation and citation.
Corporate governance refers to ________
Such is the realm of corporate governance, an area that deals
with how a company conducts its business and implements
controls to ensure proper procedures and ethical behaviour.
(from page 18 of a book entitled “Financial Management: Core
concepts”, written by Raymond Brooks and published in 2010,
by Pearson – a publisher based in Boston in the American state
of Massachusetts)
Corporate governance refers to “how a company conducts its business
and implements controls to ensure proper procedures and ethical
behaviour” (Brooks, 2010, p. 18).

24. Summarising
90% of your use of sources will be in the form of summaries of
ideas in your own words. To do this effectively, you need to:
a) highlight the relevant information
b) turn this into brief notes
c) close the original text
d) expand your notes into one or more linked sentences
How could you summarise in ONE sentence the key ideas from
this text (from an article by Chen & Lee, 2008) for a paragraph on
Confucian ideas about leadership?
“A person who wishes to follow Confucian moral philosophy will have the goal of
becoming a junzi. The term junzi literally means the ‘‘son of the ruler’’ and has
been translated into English as a ‘‘person of virtue,’’ a gentleman, a ‘‘superior
man’’ or a ‘‘princely man.’’ The term appears 107 times in the Analects (Wang,
2000). According to Anh (2008, p. 103) a junzi is a ‘‘noble person who attempts
to actualize Confucian cardinal virtues in concrete human relationships at any
cost.’’ The junzi is a person who is an involved agent with others, rather than
someone who is a detached intellectual or ivory tower philosopher (Wang,
2000). Business leaders still nominate the ideal of being a junzi as the
standard of personal integrity in China today”.

25. STEP 1: Highlight relevant information
“A person who wishes to follow Confucian moral philosophy will have the goal of
becoming a junzi. The term junzi literally means the ‘‘son of the ruler’’ and has
been translated into English as a ‘‘person of virtue,’’ a gentleman, a ‘‘superior
man’’ or a ‘‘princely man.’’ The term appears 107 times in the Analects (Wang,
2000). According to Anh (2008, p. 103) a junzi is a ‘‘noble person who attempts
to actualize Confucian cardinal virtues in concrete human relationships at any
cost.’’ The junzi is a person who is an involved agent with others, rather than
someone who is a detached intellectual or ivory tower philosopher (Wang,
2000). Business leaders still nominate the ideal of being a junzi as the standard
of personal integrity in China today” (Chen and Lee, 2008).
STEP 2: Take the information out and put into brief notes
Confucian goal is to become a junzi – a person of outstanding practical moral standard
Business leaders in China see junzi as an ideal (Chen & Lee , 2008).

26. STEP 3: Close the original book or screen – so all you
have in front of you is your notes
Confucian goal is to become a junzi – a person of outstanding moral standards, which
they use in social relationships
Business leaders in China see junzi as an ideal (Chen & Lee , 2008).
STEP 4: Expand your notes into one or more linked sentences
Research has shown that modern Chinese business leaders continue to aspire towards
the Confucian ideal of the junzi, or someone recognised as having outstanding practical
virtues and social skills (Chen & Lee , 2008).
If you follow these FOUR steps
• You won’t need to worry about plagiarism
• You’ll write more critically
• Your writing will flow much better
• You’ll be more credible

27. STRUCTURING PARAGRAPHS
Sample Assignment Question
Discrimination in the workplace has two victims: in
the short term, those discriminated against suffer;
but in the longer term, organisations themselves
suffer from their own discriminatory practices.
Discuss in relation to the New Zealand business
environment.

28. Although, as we have seen, sexism and racism continue to exist in
New Zealand organisations, there is a clear legal framework for
identifying and dealing with both practices. This is not the case
with ageism, which can be defined as “unfair discrimination on the
basis of age” (Smith & Davidov, 2003, p. 23). Because its legal
status is less clearly marked, ageism may be even more serious,
since organisations may not recognise it as a problem. One reason
for this lack of recognition is that there can be reasons to take age
into account in recruitment. For instance, it could not be claimed
that a bar was being ageist because they refused to employ a 16
year-old. Discrimination it may be, but it is not unfair.

29. On the other hand, a bar which refused to employ a well-
qualified 46 year-old to serve drinks clearly has an ageist policy,
even if they try to justify this policy as what their customers and
other staff expect. Such discrimination appears to be common in
New Zealand (Morrison, 2000, p. 18), which indicates a failure to
respond to the changing demographics of our society (Executive
Taskforce Group, 2004). Its negative impacts on organisations
are likely to worsen over the coming decades in which older
workers will be our main talent pool (Statistics New Zealand,
2006, ch. 8). Therefore, ageist policies may indicate that an
organisational culture is not ready for the challenges and
opportunities that lie ahead.

30. A WELL-STRUCTURED PARAGRAPH
• Starts by referring back to main topic of
previous paragraph(s)
• Focuses on the essay question
• Makes ONE clear basic point
• Supports this point with argument,
references to research & examples
• Is made up of sentences which refer
back to earlier sentences
• Comes to a conclusion

31. Start paragraphs by referring back to the main
point you’ve made in the paragraph before
Although, as we have seen, sexism and racism continue to be
prevalent in New Zealand organisations, there is a clear legal
framework for identifying and dealing with both practices. This is
not the case with ageism
Make sure you use the key topic words to keep your writing
relevant
Although, as we have seen, sexism and racism continue to exist in New Zealand organisations, there is a clear legal framework for
identifying and dealing with both practices. This is not the case with ageism, which can be defined as “unfair discrimination on
the basis of age” (Smith & Davidov, 2003, p. 23). Because its legal status is less clearly marked, ageism may be even more common,
since organisations may not recognise it as a problem. One obvious reason for this lack of recognition is that there may be reasons to
take age into account in recruitment. For instance, it could not be claimed that a bar was being ageist because they refused to
employ a 16 year-old. Discrimination it may be, but it is not unfair. On the other hand, a bar which refused to employ a well-
qualified 46 year-old to serve drinks clearly has an ageist policy, even if they try to justify this policy as what their customers and other
staff expect. Such discrimination appears to be common in New Zealand (Morrison, 2000, p. 18) which indicates a failure to
respond to the changing demographics of our society (Executive Taskforce Group, 2004). Its negative impacts on organisations are likely
to worsen over the coming decades in which older workers will be our main talent pool (Statistics New Zealand, 2006, ch. 8). Therefore,
ageist policies may indicate that an organisational culture is not ready for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

32. Make the main point of your paragraph clearly
in a topic sentence at or near the beginning
Because its legal status is less clearly marked, ageism is potentially
even more serious, since organisations may not recognise it as a
problem.
Include references to one or more books, academic journal
articles and high quality websites to provide evidence for
the facts, examples and concepts you include
Such discrimination appears to be common in New Zealand (Morrison, 2000, p. 18), which
indicates a failure to respond to the changing demographics of our society (Executive
Taskforce Group, 2004). Its negative impacts on organisations are likely to worsen over the
coming decades in which older workers will be our main talent pool (Statistics New
Zealand, 2006, ch. 8). Therefore, ageist policies may indicate that an organisational culture
is not ready for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

33. To make your writing flow, start each new
sentence by referring BACK to an earlier idea
__________. This is not the case with ageism _______. Because its legal status is less clearly marked,
_____ organisations may not recognise it as a problem. One obvious reason for this lack of
recognition is _____ . For instance, _______. Such discrimination _________
Aim to conclude your paragraphs with an evaluation of the
topic you’ve discussed
Therefore, ageist policies may indicate that an organisational culture is not ready
for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

34. EVALUATING PARAGRAPHS
BAND 1: The paragraph develops a coherent and convincing
argument. It is well-structured, with an opening, a set of
three or more linked sentences, and a concluding comment.
Most sentences are correct, with no basic grammar or
vocabulary errors. There is evidence of a reasonable range of
sentence types and some non-basic vocabulary.
Currently, a large number of students chose to study aboard. New
Zealand is one of the popular countries. There are 3 main reasons
that international students go to study in New Zealand. First of all,
New Zealand is quite a safe country as there is not much serious
crime. And for parents, children’s safety is the most important.
Secondly, there are a lot of beautiful scenery in NZ such as Long Bay
Regional Park and Mission Bay. Good enviorment contributes to
motivate students to study. The last but not least is the quality of
education in NZ. All students are looking forward to having a good
job or something else. So NZ is such a great choice!

35. BAND 2: The paragraph communicates an adequate, though
rather simple, argument. It has a simple structure, with basic
connections between sentences (and, but, firstly, secondly). At
least half of the sentences are correct – i.e. without basic
grammar or vocabulary errors. The range of sentence types and
vocabulary is limited with only one or two examples of non-basic
vocabulary or syntax.
There are many reasons for students study at universities in NZ, but I
think there are three main resons, firstly we can learn about the
world, it is a good way for us to expand our knowledge. Secondly,
study at universities in NZ is not too expensive. Last but not least, NZ
is a safer place in the world, because there is not much serious
crime. All in all, NZ is a good place for studying.

36. BAND 3: The paragraph as a whole does not communicate a
convincing argument at tertiary level. At points it is hard to
follow. It has a simple structure and connections between
sentences are rather awkward and/or inconsistent. Most
sentences contain at least one basic grammar or vocabulary
error. The range of sentence types and vocabulary is limited to
basic forms.
Living in New Zealand is very safety. There are not much serious
crime, at the same time students can work hard on their relevant
course without worry. When we come New Zealand, we must
become more independence. There is nobody take care of us.
Studying is the significant. To improve our English and study
hard, make sure we will graduate from university.

37. BAND 4: The paragraph does not communicate a convincing
argument as a whole, or at the level of individual sentences,
which are mostly unclear. The overall structure is minimal
and/or not coherent. Most sentences contain more than one
basic grammar or vocabulary error. The range of vocabulary
and sentence types is limited to basic forms.
Gerenally speaking, an oversea student would become more
independent than the student who study in home country. Student
need to find homestay or do the others. This can improved a student
confident. Moreover, the company realised that the international
students would more effect or improved the company. They need
some new ideas from other countries. This is why we need to study
overseas.

38. TOP TEN GRAMMAR MISTAKES
10) Spelling and Punctuation
• english
• a students life
• studing
• reknowned
• future carrier
• people are quiet friendly

39. 9) Grammar of comparison
• the environment is more clean ..
• NZ is not that expensive than ...
• fees are quite cheaper than ..
8) Wrong tense or verb form
• My parents send me to New Zealand ...
• I choose to study in NZ ..

40. 7) Wrong words
• New Zealand has very beautiful views
• nations which are upcoming with ideas
• a low number of crime
6) Wrong collocation
• Among the vital reasons
• the fees are cheaper

41. 5) Wrong or unnecessary preposition
• The reason of coming to New Zealand was for improve my
English
• included at the top 200 universities
• I would like to discuss about why …
• contact to students from Europe
• important in these days
• both of environment and social background
• an interesting opportunity to me
• In my point of view ..
• I’ve been dreaming for it

42. 4) Wrong form of word (adjective instead of noun etc)
• New Zealand is inexpensive comparing to
• a political neutral place
3) missing ‘a’ and ‘the’
• New Zealand is very safe country
• an important step for future
• environment is beautiful
• NZ universities have good reputation

43. 2) agreement – especially where the noun doesn’t agree with
verb
• Research have shown …
• NZ universities offers
1) singular instead of plural
• parent are reassured that their child are ...
• one of the major reason is ..
• many beautiful place ..

44. GRAMMAR TIP 1: AVOID OVER COMPLEX SENTENCES
Simple sentences – comprising a single clause (SUBJECT &
VERB) – are good ways to introduce a new topic without
going into detail – UNLIKE THIS ONE!
In the 1960s when little study was devoted to facial
expression, like most social scientists of her day, Mead
believed expression was culturally determined, we simply
use our face according to a set of learned social
conventions, the belief grew from the emphasis on
motivation and cognition in academic psychology that
flourished at the time.

45. The same information is much clearer if it’s broken
down into shorter sentences – and each sentence
starts by referring back to the one before
In the 1960s, little study was devoted to facial expression.
Like most social scientists of her day, Mead believed facial
expression was culturally determined.
In other words, she believed we simply use our face
according to a set of learned social conventions.
This belief grew from the emphasis on motivation and
cognition in academic psychology that flourished at the
time (Blackworth, 2006).

46. GRAMMAR TIP 2: TAKE CARE WITH SINGULAR / PLURAL IN ____ OF
_____ PHRASES
• The cost of residential houses has increased by
40% in the last two years. This dramatic rise in
prices has forced many young people into the
rental market.
• In 1999 the two countries resumed diplomatic
talks. This improvement in the relationship
between the two countries has facilitated the re-
opening of trade links.

47. GRAMMAR TIP 3: ‘THE’ IS NEEDED 140 TIMES IN A 2000 WORD
ESSAY
When you’ve mentioned something previously:
At the meeting a student spoke about problems in finding
housing. The student emphasised…
When the word is qualified by specific information:
Example 1: Qualified by a phrase:
The principles of Scientific Management ...
Example 2: Qualified by another noun:
…. a major strength of the New Zealand economy.
Example 3: Qualified by a relative clause:
The enquiry that began in 2001…