Communication for Academic Purposes

1. Communication for Academic
Purposes
Using appropriate tone, style, conventions, and reference styles

2. Academic Writing
 Refers to a style of expression that researchers use to define the
intellectual boundaries of their disciplines and specific areas of
expertise.
A formal style of writing used in universities, research institution, and
scholarly publication.
It is designed to convey agreed meaning about complex ideas or concepts
for a group of scholarly experts.

3. Stylistic Elements of Good Academic Writing
The accepted form of academic writing in
diverse disciplines can vary considerably
depending on the intended audience and the
organizational outline.
Most university-level academic papers require
careful attention to the following stylistic
elements.
Stylistic
Refers to distinctive way
language, design, or
artistic expression is used
to create a particular
effect, tone, or voice.

4. Overall view of Academic Writing
Writing is formal and logical
• The paper must be cohesive and possess a logically organized flow of
ideas- this suggests that the various parts are connected to form a unified
whole.
e.g. Research Paper divided into different chapters
• There should be transitional devices or narrative links between sentences
and paragraphs so that the reader will be to follow your argument.
e.g. Paragraph development of the introduction part of the
research paper
• The introduction should include an explanation of how the rest of the paper
is organized and all sources are properly cited throughout the paper.

5. Evaluate the following sentences
A. Contractions
* “The study doesn’t prove anything.”
* “The study does not provide conclusive evidence.”
B. Colloquialism/Slang
* “The results were kinda surprising.”
* “The results were somewhat unexpected.”

6. Characteristics of Academic Writing
1. Formal Tone
• Avoids colloquialism, slang, and contraction
(e.g., “don’t” – “do not”, “kids” –children”)
• Uses impersonal constructions
(e.g. “It can be argued” instead of “I think)
• Prefers passive voice when the doer is less important than the
action
(e.g. “The experiment was conducted”

7. 2. Precise and Clear Language
•Defines key terms to avoid ambiguity
•Uses specific, concrete words
(e.g. “78% of participants” instead of “many people”
)
•Avoids vague phrases
(e.g. “some researchers say” –
“Smith (2023) argues”).

8. 3. Objective and Unbiased
•Avoids emotional language (e.g. “This horrible policy” –
“This policy has been criticized for…”)
•Uses hedging to show caution
(e.g. “This suggests” “It may indicate” instead of
“This proves)
•Present balanced views
(e.g., “While X argues… Y counters…”)

9. 4. Evidence-Based & Analytic
•Supports claims with credible sources
(peer-reviewed journal, book, data)
•Uses citations
(APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) properly
•Engage critically with source
(compare, contrast, evaluate)

10. 5. Structure & Cohesive
•Follows logical flow
(introduction – body - conclusion).
•Uses transitions
(e.g., “Furthermore,” “In contrast,” “Consequently”)
•Engage paragraph focuses on one main idea.

11. 6. Grammatically Correct & Concise
•Avoids wordiness (e.g., “due to the fact that” – “because”)
•Uses complex sentences appropriately (but not excessively)
•Maintain consistent verb tenses
(often present tense for general truths, past for
specific studies).

12. Example of Academic vs. Non-Academic Language
Non-Academic Academic
“People say social media is bad” “Research indicates that
excessive social media use
correlates with decreased well-
being (Smith & Lee, 2022)
“I think the government should fix
this.”
“Policy interventions are
recommendation to address this
issues (WHO, 2023).”
“The results were kinda
surprising.”
“The findings were statistically
significant..”

13. To be Continued…