This document provides guidance on considerations for academic writing, including audience, purpose, organization, style, vocabulary, grammar, and linking words and phrases. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the audience and their expectations, using an appropriate level of formality in style and grammar, and maintaining cohesion and flow between ideas. Common organizational patterns like problem-solution are also outlined.

1. AW100 ACADEMIC WRITING

2. ACADEMIC WRITING

4. CONSIDERATIONS IN ACADEMIC WRITING

6. Audience
Even before you write, you need to
consider your audience.
Understand your audience’s expecta
tions and prior knowledge because this
will affect the content of your writing.

7. Purpose and Strategy
Audience, purpose and strategy are typ
ically interconnected.
If the audience knows less than the writ
er – the writer’s purpose is instructional.
If the audience knows more than the w
riter – the writer’s purpose is usually to dis
play familiarity, expertise and intelligence.

8. Organization
Information is presented to readers in
a structured format.
Use appropriate patterns of organization.
One common strategy is to organize inform
ation in terms of problem-solution. It ha
s four parts:
1. Description of a situation
2. Identification of a problem
3. Description of a solution
4. Evaluation of the solution

9. Description of
a situation
Identification
of a problem
Description of
a solution
Evaluation of t
he solution

10. Description of
a situation
Identification
of a problem
Conducting a survey of news on wo
men in general news websites provides us a
glimpse of the high rate of violence against
women. Most of the news talked about diffe
rent gendered issues in Canada, but there w
ere news highlighting other parts of the wor
ld, including the Asia Pacific region and cou
ntries like India and Pakistan. The issues co
vered included bullying and harassment of
women workers, sexual assault and rape, h
onor killings, and highly-publicized and crit
icized incidents like a cover signs of domest
ic violence.
We do not have to look far to see the
discrimination and violence that women en
counter in their everyday lives. It exists ever
ywhere, regardless of caste, class, age, race a
nd religion. Let us look at some facts and fig
ures from four South Asian countries: Two
of these have Hindu-majority populations (
Nepal and India) and two of the others are
Muslim majority (Afghanistan and Banglad
esh).

11. Description of
a solution
Evaluation of t
he solution
The campaign to fight violence against wom
en has reached many cities and villages, ma
king people aware of the reality that women
face. More women are reporting and writin
g about violence forcing governments to tak
e action to address them such as passing leg
islation to counteract the violence.
But different kinds of discrimination still pe
rsist across the globe: unequal pay; discrimi
nation in the home and at work; household
chores still not considered “work”; women
being seen as incapable of “hard” physical j
obs; women’s bodies being sexually objectifi
ed and taken as “property”; and granted un
equal citizenship and property rights.
The list is seemingly endless. It is, therefore,
essential to ask the questions regarding gen
der discrimination and violence, not just to f
ind the answers as to why it is happening, b
ut to make us all realize that the struggle an
d the fight are still in full swing.

12. Some Other Ways of Organizing Informati
on

13. Comparison and Contrast
Cause-effect
Focusing on one cause and multiple effects as in
an earthquake or describing multiple causes and o
ne effect as in global warming
Classification
Categorizing as suggested by the following exam
ple:
“Earthquake effects on underground structur
es can be grouped into two categories: (1) ground s
haking and (2) ground failure such as liquefaction,
fault displacement, and slope instability.

14. Style
Make sure communications are written
in the appropriate style.
Observe consistency
Determine whether voice should be acti
ve or passive
Use acceptable style in terms of area of
study
Use third-person point of view
Avoid gender-biased words

15. Style
Spell out the abbreviations and acrony
ms
Spell out the numbers less that ten
Instead of broad categories, you should
use the exact age ranges that are more relev
ant and specific (instead of over 65, write 6
5-75).
Use descriptive phrase.
Word spelling should conform to the A
merican English spelling.

16. LANGUAGE FOCUS: The Vocabulary Shift

17. Verbs
English often has two (or more) choices
to express an action or occurrence. The choi
ce is often between a phrasal verb (verb
+ particle) or prepositional verb (ver
b + preposition) and a single verb.

18. Example:
According to some biologists, comin
g up with clear proof of the decreasing nu
mbers of frogs has been difficult. (less for
mal style)
According to some biologists, offerin
g clear proof of proof of the decreasing nu
mbers of frogs has been difficult. (academic
style)

19. LANGUAGE FOCUS: Formal Grammar Style

20. Recommendations for Maintaining a Form
al Academic Style

21. Generally, avoid contractions (but keep in m
ind that in some fields it may be okay to use the
m)
Example:
Incorrect
Export figures won’t improve until the economy is stro
nger.
Correct
Export figures will not improve until the economy is st
ronger.

22. Use the more appropriate formal negative for
ms.
Examples:
Incorrect
The analysis didn’t yield any new results.
Correct
The analysis yielded no new results.
Incorrect
The government didn’t allocate much funding.
Correct
The government allocated little funding.

23. Limit the use of run-on expressions such as a
nd so forth and etc.
Example:
Incorrect
These semiconductors can be used in robots, CD players
, etc.
Correct
These semiconductors can be used in robots, CD players
, and other electronic devices.

24. Avoid addressing the reader as you (except w
hen you are writing a textbook or instructional
material).
Example:
Incorrect
You can see the results in Table 1.
Correct
The results can be seen in Table 1.

25. Place adverbs within the verb.
In academic writing adverbs are often placed mid
position rather than in initial or final positions. In infor
mal English adverbs often occur at the beginning or end
of sentences.
Example:
Incorrect
This model was developed by Krugman originally.
Correct
This model was originally developed by Krugman.

26. Aim for an efficient use of words.
Use as many words you need to express your point
s; try to use no more than you really need.
Example:
Incorrect
It may be difficult to make a decision about the method
that we should use.
Correct
Choosing the proper method may be difficult.

27. LANGUAGE FOCUS: Linking Words and Ph
ases

28. Linking words and phrases can help a writer
maintain flow and establish clear relationships betwee
n ideas.
Examples:
Subordinators – although, even though, because, si
nce, while, whereas
Sentence connectors – furthermore, in addition,
moreover, therefore, as a result, consequently, hence,
thus, in other words, that is, in contrast, however, on t
he other hand, conversely, for example, for instance, o
n the contrary, as a matter of fact, in fact
Phrase linkers – in addition to, despite, in spite of,
because of, due to, as a result of, unlike

29. Semicolons join two completely independent sente
nces and work much like a full stop.
Example:
Air traffic delays due to high traffic volume have i
ncreased considerably over the last decade; these del
ays have become a major public policy issue.
Semicolons can be used with sentence connectors.
Note the use of comma after the connector.
Example:
Increasing the size of airports is one solution to tr
affic congestion; however, this is a long-term solutio
n whose benefits may not be seen for many years into
the future.

30. In addition, semicolons can be used to sepa
rate rather long items in a list.
Example:
Some of the solutions to the air traffic dela
y problem include increasing the size of airpor
ts that routinely experience major flight delays
; overhauling the air traffic control so that mo
re flights can be safely handled; and increasin
g landing fees during peak periods.

31. Sometimes a dash is used to introduce a list a
s well. Often, dashes are used to intrude into a
sentence with some additional information.
Example:
The beam “cuts” inside the eye with minim
al damage to the surrounding tissue—even the
tissue between the laser and the incision.

32. General to Specific Texts

33. Texts move from broad statements to narr
ower ones. However, they often widen out agai
n in the final sentence. The shape is similar to t
hat of a glass or cup.

34. You produce GS text for:
An answer to an examination question
An opening paragraph of an assignment
A background (or scene-setting) paragraph to a
n analysis or discussion
How to begin GS texts
A short or extended definition
A contrastive or comparative definition
A generalization or purpose statement
A statement of fact

35. GENERAL STATEMENTS
General statements can include general statements of fa
ct as well as broad statements made about a topic that are usuall
y, but not necessarily always true. Here are a few examples:
Individuals in organizations exhibit a wide range of behavi
ors, from the minimalist who does the least possible to maintai
n membership to those who go beyond expectations, engaging i
n extra-role behavior to promote the effective operation of the o
rganization or to benefit others.
In the last decade, tremendous strides have been made in th
e science and technology of organic light-emitting diodes (OLE
DS).
Over the years, interest in economic benefits of meetings tou
rism has been growing.

36. LANGUAGE FOCUS: The Language of
Defining and Naming

37. FORMAL SENTENCE DEFINITIONS
May be signaled by a single verb phrase or may be express
ed using a class term and restrictive clause some verb phra
ses include refer to as, is/are known as, is/are defi
ned as
e.g. Dental erosion is defined as a progressive loss of h
ard dental tissues by a chemical process without bacterial
action.
This variant of the efficiency wage hypothesis is known
as the shirking model.
Elements of formal sentence definitions
Term + Class + Distinguishing Detail
e.g. A solar cell is a device that converts the energy of sun
light into electric energy.

38. DELETION

40. THANK YOU!