The document discusses various aspects of academic language, including definitions of conventional terms, examples of word usage, and common language confusions related to grammar and punctuation. It outlines the rules of grammar, syntax, and the importance of understanding the difference between similar words. Additionally, it emphasizes the significance of proper academic vocabulary and structures for effective communication.

1. ACADEMIC LANGUAGE
DR MARUTLA

4. Conventional is defined as someone or
something widely accepted, or something
related to a convention
• An example of conventional is a bride wearing white on her wedding day.
• An example of conventional is the use of pesticides when growing fruits and
vegetables.

7. The word "fair" has a few meanings when used as different parts of speech.
When used as an adjective,
• it can describe someone as agreeable,
but
it can also describe someone who has light skin or hair.
As a noun,
• a "fair" is typically a local event that celebrates a certain person, place, or
historical moment. Eg Funfair

8. Desert >Desert
As a noun,
• "desert" is a dry, barren area of land
where little rain occurs.
When used as a verb,
• the word means to abandon a person or
cause.

9. BAT
When used as a noun,
• a bat could be a winged, nocturnal animal
or
• a piece of sporting equipment used in
baseball.
It can also be used as a verb
• when a player goes up to bat during a
baseball game.

10. Words often confused in language
Conventions deal with Issues like;
• misspellings,
• grammatical and
• punctuation mistakes
• Capitalisation

11. Punctuation.
• Punctuation is the use of non-alphabetical symbols in
writing in order to make the text clearer or easier to
read.
•Punctuation separates text into easily recognizable
blocks of text such as sentences, clauses and lists.
• Full stop (used after certain abbreviatons)
- Prof.
- et. Al.
- Etc.

12. Comma - The comma is the most common form of
punctuation after the full stop.
•
Example…
•While the mother was cooking the baby her brother
and the dog were sleeping.
•When punctuated, the sentence is easier to read.
While the mother was cooking, the baby, her brother
and the dog were sleeping.

13. The Semi-colon (;)
• Semi-colons can be used to join
sentences.
Cooking food is fun. But eating is
better.‘
Cooking food is fun; eating is better

14. Colon (:)
• The colon indicates that a list, an
explanation, or an idea is following.
Example
The lecturer has given me three options:
to retake the exam, to accept the extra
credit assignment, or to fail the class.

15. Affect/Effect >Affect is usually a verb:
• Chester’s humming affected Posey’s ability to concentrate.
Effect is usually a noun:
• Chester was sorry for the effect of his humming
Among/Amongst >
Among >Between-- expresses a collective or loose relationship of several
Eg >Chester found a letter hidden among the papers on the desk

16. Assure/Ensure/Insure>
Assure means to tell someone that something will definitely happen or is definitely true:
• Dan assured Chester that no one would cheat in the exam.
Ensure > means to guarantee or make sure of something:
• Dan took steps to ensure that no one cheated in the exam.
Insure > means to take out an insurance policy:
• Dan was glad that his car was insured against damage when he got into an accident.

17. Complement/Compliment >
A complement is something that completes something
else. It’s often used to describe things that go well
together:
• Dan’s lime green boots were a perfect complement
to his jacket.
A compliment is a nice thing to say:
Dan received many compliments on his purple
fedora.

18. Defence/Defense
Defense > is standard in American English.
Defence > is found mainly in British English.
Emigrate/Immigrate
• Emigrate means to move away from a city or country to live
somewhere else:
• Chester’s grandfather emigrated from Canada sixty years ago.
Immigrate means to move into a country from somewhere else:
• My sister immigrated to Ireland in 2004.

19. Empathy/Sympathy >
Empathy is the ability to understand another person’s perspective or feelings.
Sympathy is a feeling of sorrow for someone else’s suffering. A sympathizer is someone who
agrees with a particular ideal or cause.
Farther/Further
 Farther refers to physical distance:
Dan can run farther than Chester.
Further refers to metaphorical distance:
Chester is further away from finishing his project than Dan is.

20. Grammar
Grammar consists of set of rules regarding language and
sentence structure, such as spli5ng in1ni ves (nouns, verbs,
adverbs and adjectives).
•Syntax
The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed
sentences in a language.
• declarative (statement)
• Interrogative (question)
• Exclamatory (expresses emotion) (!)

21. Concord (Also called Agreement)
• Subject-Verb Agreement
She (singular noun) looks (singular verb) very pretty.
And they(plural noun) look (plural verb) very pretty
• The basic rule is that singular verbs must agree with singular nouns, while plural verbs
must agree with plural nouns

22. Cont…
Jack (singular noun) enjoys
(singular verb)
playing golf every Sunday.
The men (plural noun) enjoy (plural
verb)
playing golf every Sunday

23. Reporting verbs
•A reporting verb is a verb used to indicate that
discourse is being quoted or paraphrased. It is also called a
communication verb.
• Smith (2012), states, indicates, comments, notes, observes,
believes, points out, emphasizes, advocates, reports,concludes,
underscores, mentions, finds, declares/ declears

32. CHOOSING LANGUAGE TO TEACH
FOCUS ON THE FOLLOWING:
• Academic vocabulary (words that we should use in good sentences)
• Prepositions, eg between (words that explains where things are)
• Adverbs, eg hardly (words that explain or qualifies the verb)
• Conjunctions eg, and (words that joins two or more sentences)
• Grammatical structures eg, either or…(words which are
grammatically correct)