2. What is Academic Writing?
⢠Academic writing is a form of language used by people
who communicate within an academic context using a written
means.
⢠Such a context is formal in terms of relationships, expectations,
thinking, performance, creativity, and competition among peers.
⢠It is different from other Types of writing such as Creative writing and
Journalistic writing due to its Distinct content and format.
3. list of documents where academic
writing is used
⢠Book reviews
⢠Essays
⢠Research report
⢠Research proposal
⢠Scientific paper
⢠Academic journal
⢠Dissertation and Thesis - These are written to obtaining an advanced degree at
a college or university.
⢠Abstract - This is a short summary of a long document.
4. How to write Successfully The Academic
Writing Situation
ďWhoâs your audience?
⢠Primarily the professor and possibly your classmates (though you may be asked to
include a secondary outside audience).
ďWhatâs the occasion or context?
⢠An assignment given by the teacher within a learning context and designed to have
you learn and demonstrate your learning.
ďWhatâs your message?
⢠It will be your learning or the interpretation gained from your study of the subject
matter.
ďWhatâs your purpose?
⢠To show your learning and get a good grade (or to accomplish the goals of the writing
assignment).
ďWhat documents/genres are used?
⢠The essay is the most frequent type of document used.
5. Characteristics of Academic Writing
ďFormal
⢠Academic writing is formal in terms of vocabulary used.
⢠It means that colloquial expressions, abbreviated forms of verbs, contractions, racial terms,
idioms, and emotional language should be generally avoided.
ďExplicit
⢠Academic writing is explicit in relation to the message communicated and the connections
among the parts of the text.
⢠You write to express ideas, not to entertain or impress.
⢠Be sure of saying what you intend to say.
⢠Sentences must be connected in a clear way by means of signal words and phrases that show
the logical organization of texts (words like âthereforeâ and phrases like âfor exampleâ).
6. Cont.
ďPrecise
⢠Sentences, terms, dates, figures, and data must be precise and texts must be focused.
⢠Avoid general expressions like âa lot of peopleâ, âmany thingsâ, etc.
⢠Be sure of the meaning of a word before using it.
⢠Be sure of having a clear focus for each paragraph
ďStructured
⢠Essays, study reports, and thesis or dissertations have specific structures.
⢠That fact assures that information is presented in a logical way and that ideas can be
developed clearly and function as a unit.
⢠Follow the structure that characterizes each type of academic text.
7. Cont.
ďResponsible
In academic writing, you are responsible of:
⢠providing evidence to support your claims
⢠managing information ethically
⢠understanding sources deeply
ďSupported
⢠Academic writing is characterized by acknowledging sources used to develop your own
views or ideas.
⢠Plagiarism is considered a severe academic crime.
8. Cont.
ďUnbiased
⢠Academic writing intends to inform or to produce reasonably persuasive arguments.
⢠You try to convince using arguments that can be evaluated.
⢠To achieve such a goal, you need to use language and arguments that express neutrality.
Editor's Notes
Therefore, the language form used must reďŹect such formality; especially when communicating in written form due to the permanence of the means.